On Attaching Conditions to US Aid to Israel

In Time this week Joe Klein suggested "putting a hold on all economic and military aid to Israel... until the Netanyahu government comes to understand that Jerusalem must be the capital of both Israel and Palestine, and that if you actually want peace, you don't build illegal settlement colonies in the Palestinian capital." Thomas Friedman alluded to a similar thing in the NY Times as well, though out of sheer frustration with the peace process. And this sentiment is too far off the mark, though I would say that some, if not most, of the culpability lies with the US for essentially encouraging Israeli intransigence with its unconditional support for Israel, war crimes included. What's the biggest evidence US policy towards Israel is to blame? As Glenn Greenwald states, "the notion of using our vast leverage to make them change behavior is decreed to be one of the most impenetrable taboos." While it is a good sign this "taboo" is being, at the very least, addressed, I wouldn't count on any substantial changes considering that the J Street lobby is against any conditions being attached. After Obama was elected and took a tougher stance toward then, there were rumblings that Israel would turn to Russia for military aid if the US ever did such a thing, which makes me even more cynical. No way would the US let such a thing happen. But I digress; my point is that we shouldn't let our frustration result in a denial of rights for the Palestinian people (not its ridiculous leadership). What Friedman failed to address is that while the Fatah and Dahlanist leadership has no problems with the way things are in the OT now, the Palestinian PEOPLE are not happy with the status quo. Best case scenario: Abbas is true to his word and doesn't run, a new PA is elected that is fully committed to ending the occupation, and the Fath "Revolutionary Council" is deemed wholly irrelevant. Staunch Israeli support for Fayyad and Abbas, in its many forms, should be reason enough for the Palestinians to vote against them. (Ah, this post rambled a bit, didn't it?)