Israel Appears Fated to Clash With U.S.

“Israeli Coalition Appears Fated to Clash With U.S.” — that’s the headline of a Washington Post story predicting big trouble between the Obama administration and the right-wing coalition government Benjamin Netanyahu is putting together, after failing to bring in centrist or left-wing elements. The Post notes, correctly I think, that Netanyahu himself may well be willing to make concessions on issues such as Israeli settlements and the economic measures taken against Palesetinians. But his partners — hardliners such as Foreign Minister-designee Avigdor Lieberman and Moshe Yaalon, said to be the leading candidate for Defense Minister — are unlikely to concur.

Deep into its article, the Post mentions an alternative scenario. In it, Netanyahu would push through some concessions to Palestinians in exchange for meaningful help from Obama on the issue of main concern to Netanyahu and to Israelis — dealing with the threat posed by a nuclear Iran. To the extent that such a compromise is possible, having Lieberman and other hardliners in his government may work to Netanyahu’s advantage in dealing with Washington because it allows him to insist on U.S. cooperation in dealing with Iran without himself seeming like the “obstructionist.”

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U.S. Endorses UN Homosexuality Declaration

The Obama administration announced March 18 its support for a United Nations declaration urging the global decriminalization of homosexuality three months after the Bush administration refused to endorse it.

The news, reported by the Associated Press, marked a reversal in the United States’ position on a non-binding measure considered by the U.N. General Assembly Dec. 18. At that time, 66 countries backed the barrier-breaking declaration, while more than 50 opposed it and the remainder of the 192 members abstained, according to The New York Times.

“The United States supports the U.N.’s statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity and is pleased to join the other 66 U.N. member states who have declared their support of the statement,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said, according to AP.

“The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world,” Wood said. “As such, we join with other supporters of this statement, and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora.”

The U.N. declaration goes beyond decriminalization, according to the Family Research Council (FRC). “It condemns not only ‘violence’ and ‘harassment,’ but also ’stigmatization and prejudice,’ terms which some would apply to any disapproval of homosexual conduct, no matter how peaceful and loving,” FRC President Tony Perkins wrote in his March 18 “Washington Update” e-mail.

via Baptist Press – U.S. endorses homosexuality – News with a Christian Perspective.