The Newest Barak Bungle

I truly dislike it when diplomats, politicians, pundits and other riff-raff say:

The outline and the principles of an agreement are clear, known, and quite widely agreed upon

 because that stifles debate, quashes freedom of thought and the possibility of exploring new avenues.

But anyway, here is Ehud Barak from last week at the Saban Center:

e) Jerusalem will be discussed at the end of the negotiations, with reference to the Clinton parameters, namely: Western Jerusalem and the Jewish suburbs for us, the heavily populated Arab neighborhoods for them, and an agreed upon solution in the "Holy Basin".

Now, to illustrate that despite being "clear, know and agreed upon", Barak then goes on to emphasize Israel's worries:

Our experience in the second intifada and in the pullout from Lebanon and Gaza dictates that security arrangements must include three compelling elements:


• Preventing rockets and missiles from entering the West Bank.

• Preventing an outbreak of terror similar to the terror wave we faced in 2001 - 2003.

• Providing effective operational answer for future potential of a conventional attack on our narrow eastern border.

Dear readers, if Jerusalem goes the way of that 'Unholy Basin' initiative, the plug will be pulled on Israel and all three of the above elements will threaten Israel's citizens.

But at least he interjected abit of yiddishkeit in finishing his speech thus:

Thank you very much and Shabat Shalom.

^