Daily Archives: September 9, 2009

Bibi Netanyahu seems to totally ignore these discussions. They don’t fit his vision of reality. Instead, he tells the American president Israel will enlarge its settlements as long as it wants to. And, oh yes, he will agree only to a brief hiatus in construction.

Bibi wants to change the language of the discussion. The Jerusalem Post reported Monday morning that “freeze” is to be dropped by Israeli ministers and media:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed his aides and Likud ministers over the weekend to stop referring to Israel’s commitments in a deal with US President Barack Obama as a “settlement freeze.”

Instead of a freeze (hakpa’ah in Hebrew), it will be referred to as a suspension (hash’ayah), a waiting period (hamtana), or even a cutback (tzimtzum) of Jewish construction in the West Bank.

In English, the word freeze that Netanyahu used just two weeks ago in Europe will be replaced by the sanitized word “moratorium.”

While Bibi fiddles with language, his country’s is under an economic threat. Continue reading →