Haaretz reports, based on an unnamed US official, that no gaps exist between the US and Israel with respect to Iran's nuclear program, that the US is turning up the pressure on Iran out of its own interest, not because of Netanyahu-- oh, and the US negotiation team briefed Israel on the recent Baghdad talks before it even briefed the US government.
On Friday, the head of the U.S. negotiation team, undersecretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman, arrived in Israel along with officials from the White House National Security Council working on the Iran nuclear issue – Gary Seymour and Puneet Talwar.
...
According to the U.S. official, the Israeli government was the first to be updated by them on what happened in Baghdad after the talks were over. "We updated the Israelis in detail before we updated our own government," the official said.
proof of ‘Israel firsters’, for sure
Not only proof, but the very definition of “Israel firsters”.
a U.S. official…asked to remain anonymous owing to the sensitive nature of the issue.
sensitive? what’s sensitive? this: “There are no gaps between the U.S. and Israel in anything”
spare us! we hear this constantly! no need to be anonymous! ‘a U.S. official’ could be…..anyone!
According to the official, the U.S. government does not feel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to pressure it
hahahahahaha
OMG! Why I don”t have that Stockholm Syndrome yet! How long do I have to feign that I have it.
According to RT, Netanyahu and Barak refused to meet Wendy Sherman when she arrived in Jerusalem to brief them on the talks with Iran, she had to brief junior officials. [Bad news unwelcome: Israel refuses to listen to US Envoys report on Iran, 26:05:12 RT.] It could be wishful thinking of course.
@ HarryLaw,
side note: when former president Carter visited Israel after the publication of his book ‘Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid’ the Israeli government [and/or its services] refused to provide or assist in providing any ‘security.’ That’s because they couldn’t think of a bigger ‘F U!’ ploy.
You have to ask first… what was the purpose of the unnamed official (if there was one) in making this statement?
And second what was the purpose of publishing the story?
It pushes the meme of 1) no US-Isr difference on Iran when we all know there is plenty of difference between the Obama & US Military and Netanyahu and his Isr adm on Iran and 2) of US officialdom placing Israel ahead of the US in the pecking order.
No doubt it took place this way…but why? US state officials acting on their own doing this? Obama authorizing it as a ‘political’ offering to Israel & firsters? An offering to Netanyahu before the US elections?
And then who is the article aimed at? The Israeli public? The 60,000 American voters in Israel?
Was there communication between the WH and the US negotiation team after their Baghdad meeting and before they went to Israel?
I would assume there was.
But if there wasn’t then we’re looking at a repeat of the way the Cheney-Zio cabals cut everyone out of loop in the Bush WH adm.
Reporters should stop publishing comments from anonymous government sources.
Whenever you hear that it’s almost invariably propaganda.
No source? F O.
Does it really make a difference?
If every reporter isn’t compromised, certainly every editor is.
It’s good that at the top, we Americans have our priorities straight. Makes us proud to be Americans!
BTW, doesn’t the fact that Israel Lobby has such money clout in US election campaigns, even in states sans any significant Jewish population, indicate that Dick and Jane do not have the critical faculties or desire needed to elect folks best representing US state and local interests as a whole? Same in Canada, UK, Australia? They are too lazy and/or uncaring to investigate beyond TV campaign ads and press OP-Eds, news on foreign affairs? Do they actually care about anything, most of them, about anything other than their jobs and home mortgages?
Several different stories on the meeting are circulating.
link to rt.com
Bad news unwelcome: Israel refuses to listen to US envoy’s report on Iran
Published: 26 May, 2012, 20:24
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) speaks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak (Reuters / Ronen Zvulun)
TAGS:Conflict, Meeting, Nuclear, Iran, USA, Israel
Top Israeli officials have refused to meet the US envoy to the P5+1 group, who arrived in Jerusalem with a report on recent talks with Iran. The diplomatic démarche comes as relations between the two countries strain over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrived in Israel on May 25, a day after the group of six (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany) ended their unsuccessful negotiations in Baghdad.
She had intended to brief Israeli officials about negotiations between Iran and the P5+1. But both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak became unexpectedly unavailable to meet her.
Sherman then delivered her report about the fruitless talks to National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror and Foreign Ministry Director-General Rafi Barak instead, the Debka news agency reported.
No agreement was reached between the world powers and Iran during the talks in Baghdad on May 23-24 because Tehran refused to meet their demands. The P5+1 wanted Iran to suspend its 20 percent uranium enrichment program, which the group sees as vital to the negotiations process.
Tehran labelled the Western proposal ‘unbalanced’, rejecting it over what it called “unfair demands” which offer little in return.
Even though both sides still hope to hammer out the agreement at a newly-scheduled round of talks in Moscow next month, Israel remains less optimistic about the negotiations.
On the first day of discussions in Baghdad, on May, 23, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the negotiations only allow Iran to buy time and drive a wedge between Washington and Tel Aviv.
Relations between Israel and United States have become more tense lately, with both countries having different solutions to the conflict with Iran.
While the US prefers warnings and sanctions to pressure Iran away from any suspected atomic weapon development, Israel threatens military action.
On the talks’ opening day, Ehud Barak reaffirmed Israel’s position, saying a military strike against Iranian facilities is not out of the question.
What’s more, a day later, a source in Washington DC said the Israeli leadership had backtracked on a promise not to attack Iran before America’s November presidential election, according to the Debka report.
The possible use of force against Iran has been discussed by Israel and its western allies for months. Israel insists on the right to strike if and when it sees fit, saying it will not seek anyone’s consent.
There is a fear that, if such an attack happens, Iran would retaliate against any forces it sees as enemies, which could result in a major regional war, dragging in other countries as well.
Israel will only accept Iran developing its civilian nuclear industry is if it shuts down all its uranium enrichment sites and uses imported fuel, Barak said. Essentially, that is what the P5+1 group offered Iran this time. But Tehran still insisted it did not intend to create a nuclear bomb and, as “proof”, agreed on the eve of negotiations to the resumption of UN nuclear monitoring at Iran’s sites, including Parchin.
@ American,
That’s not fair. A ‘moral prostitute’ bending over backward to the point of snapping and not one of those hard-nosed leaders appreciates the effort? Darn, they might as well have had meaningful discussions in Baghdad [the irony of Iran talking to the P5+1 -149 in Baghdad is mind-boggling, to say the least]. Oh, well, there will be another in Moscow or Beijing if that doesn’t work out either.
Now why would that happen if there was no gaps between the US and Israel with respect to Iran’s nuclear program?
There has been a lot of this talk lately by so called US Officials…I consider Shapiro an Israeli, a US agent for Israel. The constant loose lips and good cop- bad cop roles are either by WH-State Dep. political design, or as said, once again we have some wild card cabal members running their mouths.
NYT…May 17
US Amb Dan Shapiro said this week that not only was America willing to use military force to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.” but that preparations had already been made for a possible attack.
And not just available, but it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to
ensure it.
While American leaders, including President Obama and
his defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have frequently
said all options are on the table regarding Iran, the notion of specific plans
being made is not something they typically talk about. In fact, at a March speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, Mr. Obama warned that loose talk of war could actually speed Tehranâ’s move toward weaponization, saying now is not the time for bluster. Some anaylast say that Mr. Shapiro’s remarks might have been aimed at reassuring an Israeli administration and an Israeli public ” worried that the United States was softening its stance ahead
of the talks with Iran and other world powers scheduled for next week in
Baghdad.
Expression that all options are on the table can only strengthen the negotiations said Dore Gold, a former adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and now president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
There’s an irony in the situation, because a hawkish position on Iran probably makes a peaceful diplomatic outcome more likely, and that could be what he was trying to do he said..’
* There is irony here because Israel is the one that needs to be threatened to get them to do what we say.
The July 1st sanctions that the US has bullied the world to accept has some interesting (and potentially disastrous) consequences as a result of insurance problems – the Indian and Chinese gov’ts will insure their tankers themselves while Japan, S. Korea and the EU importers of Iranian oil will not be able to insure and accordingly will be compelled to bid for non-Iranian oil with the rest of the world to make up the deficit.
The price of oil will dramatically increase which in turn will lead to an economic slowdown for all concerned including the US, where the price of gasoline will rise significantly
Will the pundits make the connection that the US caused the increase at the behest of Israeli demands to punish Iran, a country that poses absolutely no military threat to the US?
Oh, this is disgusting. When US officials act in such a blatant way as agents for foreigners, it’s time to get these zionists and zio-symps out of the government.