Did Rabbi Eric Yoffie Proofread His Oped?

Did I read this correctly?

"Now is actually a good time to put forward a reasonable plan to resolve the settlement question and to indicate Israel’s intentions in negotiations with the Palestinians. And Lieberman has done just that, calling for a return to the terms of the Bush-Sharon letters of 2004. The Bush-Sharon letters called for a two-state solution and an end to settlement construction outside of the major settlements blocs. At the same time, they also called for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and suggested that the blocs could be incorporated into Israel as part of any final status agreement. As Lieberman noted, a reaffirmation of this correspondence could be negotiated in such a way that would give Israel freedom to expand settlements within agreed-upon borders of the blocs.

If the Bush-Sharon letters are adopted by Trump and Netanyahu, peace is hardly likely. In the current climate, it is hard to imagine the Palestinians embracing the 2004 formula.

What is he suggesting here?  

Does he make sense to you?

^ 

Bad for Us: And the Rabbis Were Silent

You are not going to believe this commentary by John Podhoretz relating to this:

In a morning conference call with about 1000 rabbis from across the nation, Obama asked for aid: "I am going to need your help in accomplishing necessary reform,"...The 15-minute morning briefing was sponsored by the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism, and included rabbis of all persuasions...Moline [Rabbi Jack Moline, the rabbi of the Conservative Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria] noted that in the lead up to the president's address, as the rabbis waited on hold, "there was a lot of chatter" among some participants who felt that the call should be seen as an opportunity "to instruct the President about [Presidential Medal of Freedom selection] Mary Robinson" and about the peace process in the Middle East.

"It was the subject of a good deal of conversation whether anyone was going to challenge him on that," in particular Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union of Reform Judaism, whose has publicly chided (*) Obama for his administration's stance on settlements.

When the issues failed to come up during the health care call, Moline pithily tweeted: "Yoffie praises President and does not raise any other issue. Good for him."

"Rabbi Yoffie stuck to the subject" of health care reform, Moline said in the interview, "I think it was a good thing."

(*)

Chided?

Huh?

What was this, back in July?:-

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of Reform Judaism, delivered a ringing endorsement of Obama's demands for a settlement freeze, saying that settlement expansion was not in Israel's interest.

Or this two weeks later:-

The vast majority of American Jews back a settlement freeze, according to Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of Reform Judaism...the current dispute between Israel and the U.S. over construction in the settlements and East Jerusalem is so disturbing, he said. "This is a time that requires smooth and strong relations with [the U.S.] government. It's a time for differences to be worked through. It's a time for compromise and moderation. It's not a time to be involved in a dramatic public dispute."

"Settlement activity at the West Bank is not popular here," he continued. "It never has been. It's absolutely the last thing in the world you want to be involved in a public dispute over. Because not only you won't have the support of this government - you won't have the support of the American people either. Do you think nevertheless it was the right thing to accentuate solely this issue? Some claim this allowed the Palestinians and the Arab governments to sit and wait until the settlement freeze.

"Settlement freeze at the West Bank is something that we've supported," he replied, dodging the question. "I believe that it's possible to reach some kind of understanding on it - so whatever compromise or understanding is involved there, they need to do that."

That's a chiding?

It's Okay as Long as You're Compromising

From the below, I imagine Yoffie, a Reform Rabbi, thinks it's okay for Diaspora Jewry to interfere in Israel's affairs, as long as Israel compromises, surrenders, yields up Jewish territory and security:

“The Jewish community in the US cannot at this moment make things difficult for Israel and it mustn't tell the Israeli government not to compromise on the issue of Jerusalem,” Rabbi Eric Yoffie said in an interview with Haaretz on Saturday, 22 December 2007.

“If there will be a concession at the end of the day, Israel will receive a tremendous benefit in return,” Yoffie surmised calling the timing of the vote “a wrong message whose goal isn't [to show] concern for Jerusalem but to demonstrate dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Olmert.”

Source

Rabbi did I say?