Bolton: Netanyahu Releasing Prisoners to Get US Help on Iran

By: Greg Richter, NEWSMAX

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton says it is a “mistake” for Israel to release 104 Arab prisoners, but that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely making a political calculation to get U.S. help later.

The move makes sense to Netanyahu, Bolton told Fox Business Network, because he is focused on the most important issue in the region: Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu is facing a hard decision on whether to strike, and if he does he wants to be in a place to tell Obama, “I have done everything you asked me on the Israel-Palestinian question, despite the political cost, now I want you to stand with me against Iran,” Bolton said on “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”

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Netanyahu won the approval of his Cabinet for the prisoner release on Sunday. The move is a precondition to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks being brokered by the United States. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded release of prisoners held since before a 1993 interim peace accord. Thousands more Palestinians have been jailed since then, many of whom carried out deadly attacks on Israelis.

“Since Netanyahu, I think, believes there is no way the talks can succeed, he concludes that he’s better off letting them proceed to their inevitable failure than raising the ire of President Obama,” Bolton said.

July 31, 2013 | 5 Comments »

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  1. History is an important teacher as well as is our Torah. History teaches that American and Arab promises are totally worthless. The Torah teaches that violating G-d’s rules will cause great grief and suffering for Israel as it has done so often in the past. Jewish leaders remain secular and incapable of ever learning that reliance on promises by other counties is suicidal. Only a faith based policy can save Israel. But secular leaders have zero faith and thus cling to even the slimiest of political straws. Moshe Feiglin has explained this but the secularists cannot focus their minds and therefore continue blindly on the path to more tragic mistakes.

  2. he wants to be in a place to tell Obama, “I have done everything you asked me on the Israel-Palestinian question, despite the political cost, now I want you to stand with me against Iran,”

    I agree that it is likely to do with iran primarily but I believe that there is already an agreement. As the word of a US president isn’t worth anything(e.g. Bush letter to sharom)I assume that BB progresses according to Obama demonstrating facts on the ground wrt hamas , Hezbullah, Syria being weakened to mitigate blowback(hamas was already leashed and syria/hezbullah being weakened and dispersed)
    There is a lot of emphasis on agreeing that the talks last 9 months in which no one leaves the table or causes waves. Nine months leads to the time that Iran is supposed to have passed the red line. Perhaps Iran is to be dealt with and it is desired to have no israel/pal problem during that period of dealing. This would allow a coalition to progress without Israel/Pal being a distraction which would be important to the GCC. Also, it would allow for the recruitment of destabilizing jihadis focused on Iran’s and proxies. The payment to the pals for the 9 months is the prisoners, 4 billion, some parts of C. Abbas wants the 4 bill but cannot show that alone for going along, therefore the prisoners are the concession to wave. Israel gets either the US takes care of Iran or a green light plus the reduction of blowback from Iran’s proxies. Israel might also get an opening from the arab league for completing an interim pal deal which leaves the main points to later(there is a gulf consulate in Israels 2014 budget)or falling apart because by then the iran deal is done. Israel can see how it progresses as it commits. This is what I think is going on: a fig leaf for Iran.

  3. @ the phoenix:
    ‘The case of the ladder leaning on the wrong wall
    (I hate it when the iPad is writing for me….and it was not in the ‘English keyboard’ mode…)
    🙁