I think their [Netanyahu and Barak] fear was that the IAEA report would get lost, and they’re looking for ways to keep this issue in the international news so that it gets maximum attention. They were afraid it would go down the news hole, so they tested the Jericho missile. The last time they tested it was four years ago, and the name Jericho wasn’t even mentioned, but this time there was a press release, and the test was done during the day out in the open. When Israel wants to hide things they know how to do it, and they wanted this report to build pressure on Iran and the US.

I’m convinced.

No worries, though, because the U.S. has withdrawn its monetary support (which makes up 22% of UNESCO’s budget) as per laws from the early 1990s that prohibit Washington from funding any U.N. body that recognizes the Palestinian territories. And did I mention that Netanyahu is on top of his game right now? Yesterday, the Israeli prime minister and his eight ministerial minions decided to expedite the settlement construction of 2,000 units in East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and Maale Adumim in response to the vote. So childish.

Naturally, former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who resigned in March following comments he made about the treatment of Bradley Manning, had something to say:

P.J.’s a good guy, but he just doesn’t get it. First President Obama has never been terribly proactive about formulating any sort of peace agreement. He’s spent the past three years trying to keep Netanyahu in check, managing crisis after crisis. Thus, Obama was never really engaged in the “peace process” from the start. Second, the peace process is nonexistent. Most would say that it ended in 2001 with the Second Intifada, but in my opinion it was dead on arrival in 1993. Also, the U.S. repeating to both sides, “That is not helpful,” hardly constitutes what one would call a peace process.

Yes, it’s true that the U.S. cannot “budge” this Israeli government. Ultimately, Netanyahu only answers to himself. I think Crowley should have read about Bibi’s dealings before, during and after the Hebron Agreement in the mid-1990s. The Obama administration has been too optimistic about the potential for the Prime Minister to change. It’s also overly optimistic about Abbas’ independence. There’s this whole issue in the Territories about his popularity and political stability, and negotiations between Fatah and Hamas to create a unity government have failed so far. Abbas may not be the best statesman, but he’s not stupid.

Finally, putting parameters on the table is exactly what doesn’t work. I know, it’s weird and ridiculous that all of my complaining leads up to this final and cynical point, but think about it. The Clinton Parameters failed. Every time parameters have been set, either a deal has not been reached, or a signed agreement has ultimately remained unimplemented. There are too many ideological, ethnic, religious and territorial issues within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (read: intractable conflict) that prevent signed and verbal agreements from being successfully implemented on the ground.If the State Department ever realizes and truly understands that the peace process never existed, maybe Crowley’s colleagues will change their tune.

The problem with Landler’s analysis is that he has a few analysts saying that the E.U. matters, and that it’s this summer’s “prize,” but he presents no convincing evidence to back it up and even insists that a rift within the E.U. would be extremely problematic given its economic crisis. I understand that the E.U. has no problem splitting when it comes to political issues; take, for example, the cleavage caused by the question of whether or not to send troops to Iraq. With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, there is much more at stake. When and if there is an end or a solution to the conflict, it will change the Middle East because it will end the status quo. At present, there are also other distractions: France is deeply involved in Libya, Germany is trying to save the eurozone and Britain is dealing with its worst scandal in years.

Landler says that everyone is waiting for Europe to lay its cards on the table, but this an intangible fantasy. The members of the E.U., or rather its influential players, are not going to all of a sudden reveal where they stand on the Israel-Palestine issue. Even if they do, their answers will be unsatisfying, merely a throwback to the Oslo process, which it seems no one can go beyond. Catherine Ashton, the Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, does not seem to be particularly well-versed in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The only bloc that has actually been firm about its approach to the United Nations vote on a Palestinian state in September is a group of states in South America that are vehemently pro-Palestinian.

The European Union will never be the solution to to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate unless it creates a cohesive policy that strikes the right balance, which of course in and of itself has proved elusive. It seems that Israel is perfectly happy with the status quo, but the EU will not be a catalyst. The catalyst has to be either a mutually hurting stalemate or a mutually enticing opportunity.

According to the law, a person or an organization calling for a boycott of Israel, including the settlements, can be sued by the boycott’s targets without having to prove that they sustained damage. The court will then decide how much compensation would be paid. The second part of the law says a person or a company that declare a boycott of Israel or the settlements will not be able to bid in government tenders.

It was proposed that the vote on this law would not take place until after the Quartet meeting, which also happens today, but Netanyahu didn’t think it would make any difference.  Israel’s administrative legal experts took contradictory positions on the law:

Before the vote, the Knesset’s legal adviser, attorney Eyal Yanon, published a legal assessment saying parts of the law edge towards “illegality and perhaps beyond.” He went on to warn that the law “damages the core of freedom of expression in Israel.” Yanon’s assessment contradicts that of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who said the bill is legal.

Besides that, I don’t know what else to say, except for that I don’t know how a majority of 47 Members of Knesset allowed this to happen.

As Eldar makes clear, Ross has been advising presidents ever since the first Bush administration and played a central role in both the Clinton and Obama administration, and his stewardship of the “peace process” has led exactly nowhere.

In what other line of work could someone fail consistently for two decades and still have a job? If you were a baseball manager and your team didn’t make the playoffs for two decades running, you’d have been canned long ago. If you were a CEO and you lost money for twenty straight years, the Board of Directors or the shareholders would have hired a replacement long ago. If you were a dean or a university president and faculty quality, student achievement and the size of the endowment kept declining on your watch, it’s a safe bet you’d be told that your services were no longer required.

But when it comes to U.S. Middle East policy, there is hardly any accountability. And the tragic irony is that advisors like Ross — who make no secret of their deep attachment to Israel — have in fact done an excellent job of scuttling prospects for a two-state solution that is Israel’s best hope of long-term security and international acceptances.

Aside from the “deep attachment to Israel” rhetoric, which I did not focus on AT ALL in my thesis (I have a love-hate relationship with The Israel Lobby), Walt has an excellent point.  Why is Dennis Ross still America’s number-one, go-to Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution guru?  I imagine that there are lots of people asking this question.

Eldar cuts right to the chase: Dennis Ross is cutting Israeli-Palestinian peace off at the knees by trying to convince the Palestinians to give up on a UN vote in favor of statehood.  I never believed that a vote would work anyway but, as so many readily forget, it all goes back to before the Oslo Accords:

In October 1991 he came with U.S. President George H.W. Bush to the Madrid Conference, which squandered the fruits of the Gulf War victory. In September 1993 he celebrated, with U.S. President Bill Clinton, the birth of the battered Oslo Accords. In early 1997 he managed to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign the Hebron Accord, which left tens of thousands of Palestinians to the mercy of the students of Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba. In late 1998 he was among those who gave birth to the Wye River Memorandum, which died in infancy. In 2000 he was a senior partner to the reverberating failure of American diplomacy in Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. And here he is again, this time as U.S. President Barack Obama’s special envoy responsible for prolonging the death throes of the terminally ill patient known as the peace process.

Obama making good on his Nobel Prize remains a pipe dream.  It’s not going to be a focus of his 2012 campaign, and Mideast peace is certainly not as important domestically as the budget deficit or live-tweeting.  There are people out there who are better than Ross, but as Eldar reminds us, the two-state solution is all but dead.  It’s time to get rid of the old guard, both in the U.S. and in Israel.  Then, there might be a chance for renewed negotiations.

Recently, I’ve come to realized that things fall in place.  This week I signed a freelance contract with the Times-Picayune and discovered that freelance journalism might actually be a lucrative full-time year-off pursuit.  At least that’s what I’m hoping for, since my heart is in print journalism.  So here are my first two Times-Pic freelance articles for your viewing pleasure:

U.S. and Russia are strengthening their relationship, Ambassador says                                                                                                                                    The Obama administration has experienced a positive reset in U.S.-Russian relations both politically and economically, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Beyrle said during a speech in New Orleans on Tuesday…click here for more

Gas prices might drop over the summer, but businesses are still watching the situation closely                                                                               Motorists might see some relief at the pump this summer, despite ongoing conflicts in oil-producing countries. The Energy Information Administration, in a forecast released this month, said regular gasoline prices will average $3.75 per gallon…click here for more

Also, I did attend the MDRT annual meeting in Atlanta.  Dad gave an amazing Presidential address, and Emily and I rocked it onstage for the invocation.  It was my first time ever speaking in front of roughly 6000 people.  Yeah, 6000 people (and it was probably 6500).  Unfortunately, I was not up for blogging due to the fact that I was sick.  Lucky enough for y’all, here’s a picture of the grand poobah hat in the ExCom (Executive Committee) suite:

Ok, it’s time to engage in my favorite post-grad activities: eating and sleeping.  Over and out.

Yesterday was Nakba Day, which the Palestinians established long ago to mark the catastrophe that was, from their perspective, the creation of the State of Israel and the human rights abuses (forced exile, etc.) that ensued.  While Yom Ha’atzmaut is celebratory, Nakba Day is a day of mourning, protesting, and airing grievances.  Israeli security usually steps things up for Nakba Day, just as a precaution, and nothing major has ever happened.  At least not until yesterday, when Palestinian demonstrators crossed the Syrian, Lebanese, and Gazan borders into Israel, illegally, and provoked the IDF to respond with tear gas and live ammunition.  Thirteen were killed and many wounded.  Violence also erupted in the West Bank, and a Palestinian youth was also killed in Silwan in East Jerusalem when

somebody opened the barred window of the third floor of the marauder house, “Beit Yonatan,” situated on the slope beneath us, pulled out a rifle and shot bullets into the boy’s stomach from a distance of 20-30 meters. A few minutes before, some boys had tossed Molotov cocktails at “Beit Yonatan.” Hours later, Ayyash, 17, drew his last breath in the emergency care unit of Al-Mukassad Hospital. (from Haaretz)

Some are calling Milad Ayyash the first victim of the Third Intifada.  Most are saying that what happened yesterday brought the Arab Spring to Israel.  No matter what happens, it’s certainly going to change things, and by that I don’t just mean Obama’s imminent Middle East speech.

Naturally, it is important to mention the Obama administration’s opinion on yesterday’s border clashes.  The White House “accused Syria of inciting deadly border clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators, saying Damascus was trying to distract attention from its own violent crackdown on protests,” and spokesman Jay Carney “said Israel ‘has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders.’” (from Haaretz)  The Israeli delegation to the United Nations announced that it would file complaints with the UN Security Council and Sec. General against Syria and Lebanon.

I think the main points are, first, that what the demonstrators did yesterday was illegal.  Syria and Lebanon do not have peace treaties with Israel, and residents of those countries (including resettled Palestinians) are not allowed to cross the border into Israel.  I do believe that Israel had a legal and moral responsibility to respond because the safety of its borders, and therefore that of its citizens, was at stake.  The Israeli side of the Israel-Syrian border in particular is a very residential area.  However, my second point is that these are legitimate grievances.  The Palestinians do deserve their own state, and they deserve to the right to return to that state.  But before any of that can be negotiated, Israeli Jews need to own up to Israel’s role in al-Nakba and the repercussions of Jabotinsky Zionism.  As Noam Sheizaf wrote on +972, “Denying the Nakba—forgetting our role in it and ignoring its political implications—is denying our own identity.”  There should be some acknowledgment on the national level, but who am I kidding.  All Netanyahu had to say was,

“The Palestinians call this a day of catastrophe, but their catastrophe is that their leadership has not succeeded in reaching a compromise. Still today, they don’t have a leadership that is ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.” (from Haaretz)

It seems like this hurting stalemate just became a bit more painful for the Palestinians, but I think it’s safe to say that, for now, nothing will change.  The spotlight may have been on Israel yesterday, but as long as the violence in Syria and Egypt continue, the Netanyahu government is safe.

And now for something slightly humorous but potentially serious.  It seems that Australian red claw crayfish have infiltrated the Kinneret and could threaten its ecosystem by attacking local fish and disrupting their breeding. (from Haaretz)  Click here to see an up-close photograph of this stealth invader.  I’m also assuming this means that the Kinneret is no longer kosher.

Laura Taishoff never intended to stay in New Orleans beyond her year with Avodah, the national Jewish service corps.

“I decided to stay because I felt really comfortable here,” the Katonah, N.Y., native said. “I felt like I was developing here Jewishly more than I ever had anywhere else, and I knew that I had a better chance of getting a job here based on my experiences and connections…