Sunday March 23, 2014

I've Been Thinking:

The US Israel relationship is very sturdy. It is also very complicated.

Yes, the United States is upset because Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has spoken out of turn. And there will be a price to pay. Exactly how much and when is still to be decided.

But now the US is also very worried, this time about the breakdown of Israeli Palestinian talks. The deadline is just a few weeks away. And the US needs to incentivize the talks.

Israel is the party that will need to capitulate, accommodate and compromise. That is the nature of the beast. Israel is the powerful party and in the eyes of the United States it is Israel, not the Palestinians, who must give in.

Given the impasse, the question of the day is what will help Israel along the path to compromise? There are not many things that can be used as incentives for Israel.

And so, for the first time in decades, I am hearing whispers about the United States raising the Jonathan Pollard case and using it as a fulcrum to help Israel come around to thinking about the negotiations through the perspective of the United States.

In the end, the United States may very well sweeten the deal by promising to release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. That would be a new, and long sought, development.

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