Fateful Triangle

”Limited War” in Lebanon873addition to the traditional huge subsidies, which have no remoteanalogue in international affairs; the $10 billion loan guarantees,demanded with much passion for Russian immigrants who were beingforced to Israel by pressures on Germany, the U.S., and others not toallow them a free choice, are now being used for infrastructure andbusiness investment, it is frankly conceded—of course freeing funds forsettlement in the territories. 28 And while Jewish settlement flourishesand expands, the Palestinian inhabitants of the occupied territories sinkinto misery and despair, the decline sharply accelerated by Rabin’sclosure of the territories, which threatens even survival in a region thathas been denied any possibility of independent development under thecruel military occupation. The “closure,” of course, observes the usualcriteria: Jewish settlers in the territories are exempt.The July 1993 operations are intended to advance all of these prospects,making it clear to the Arab states and the Palestinians that theyhave no choice but to yield to the force exercised by Israel under U.S.protection. All other possibilities have been eliminated in the New WorldOrder, in which there is no deterrent to U.S. force, no space forindependent initiatives (“neutralism,” “nonalignment”), no annoyingimpediments from international institutions, and no thought of anindependent European role in what is recognized to be U.S. turf.Israel may well consider that these opportunities are now enhanced.The Clinton Administration is regarded as even more extreme in rejectionof Palestinian rights than the government of Israel itself. Two weeksbefore the latest Israeli attacks, the political correspondent of Hadashot,Amnon Barzilai, observed that the U.S. proposals presented to Israeland the Palestinians break new ground in rejectionism: for the first time,they stipulate that “all the options will be left open,” including even “thedemand for full annexation of the territories” under “Israeli sovereignty.”In this respect, Clinton goes far beyond the governing Labor Party,Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky