The AP continues its tradition of explicitly blaming Israel for all failures in Middle East negotiations. Let’s look at the headline and lead:
Israeli Hardliners Object to Kerry Pressure
Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners on Sunday stepped up pressure on the Israeli prime minister, threatening to topple the government if he caves in to American pressure to accept a key Palestinian territorial demand in U.S.-backed peace talks.The warnings came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took a brief break after three days of talks with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, jetting off to the Arab world to discuss his efforts before an expected return to Jerusalem later Sunday.
In a sign that Kerry is intensifying the pressure, a Palestinian official confirmed that the secretary asked Abbas to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland. Abbas has repeatedly rejected this Israeli demand, saying it would compromise the rights of Palestinian refugees and Israel’s Arab minority. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Kerry has barred the sides from discussing the negotiations in public.
Note that the AP downplays utterly the continuing Palestinian rejection of the peace plan. They spend the second half of the story talking to Yisrael Beitenu and Avigdor Lieberman, and get absolutely zero quotes from the Palestinians detailing how they’re never going to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This is standard across the board for the anti-Israel narrative throughout the media (and academia).
Note that you don’t hear the State Department going ballistic because Palestinian negotiators are talking to the press in spite of having been told not to by Kerry. Compare this to Israel’s 45-minute dressing-down by Hillary Clinton over putting out tenders for new building in “settlements” during Obama’s first term.
Yeah. There’s no bias at all.
But I’m not particularly worried. No matter how much Kerry tries, he’s not going to get an agreement. Even if Netanyahu suddenly folded and gave the Palestinians everything they wanted, Abbas would turn it down. Because they don’t want peace with Israel. They want Israel itself. Only they call it “Palestine”. Just look at their flag. Their state encases all of Israel.