WaPo's senior editor is clueless. Serially clueless.

Weymouth is turning 70 next week

Lally Weymouth is Senior Associate Editor of the Washington Post. Her interview with Yair Lapid was
published in last Sunday's paper.

This section indicates that Weymouth, and probably most Western journalists, simply do not understand why many Israelis want to hold onto their biblical land, nor the value of the settlements from a defense and negotiating standpoint, nor even how coalitions work in  Israel.

The depth of that cluelessness can be seen in this exchange:

LW: Both the Israelis and the Palestinians seem to feel that if something doesn’t happen soon and settlement construction continues, there won’t be anything left to discuss.

YL: Yes, everybody’s afraid that there will come a point of no return. Therefore, I don’t think we have limitless time. It’s always complicated because when you negotiate about anything, whoever seems to be more anxious about the timetable is going to lose the negotiations.

LW: But why doesn’t the prime minister freeze the settlements?

YL: He needs to know why is it that he’s freezing the settlements. This is a big move for this government.

LW: Why is it such a big move?

YL: Because the Likud is not even the most right-wing party in this coalition. To ask an Israeli prime minister to jeopardize the existence of his own government without knowing what the end results will be is a lot to ask.

LW: I don’t see why.

YL: Well, the former government froze the settlements for 10 months, and the Palestinians didn’t come to the table for those 10 months.

LW: So why not do it again?

Yeah, why not keep repeating a failed strategy where you make concessions that tear at the very soul of your country and get nothing in return except more demands? I don't see why not. Really, why not? Why would anyone be against it? It makes no sense to me. Can you explain why again? And then again? And a few more times? Because while I'm sure it makes no sense for any Israeli to want to have a connection with the Biblical land of their forefathers, I need to ask again and again because you are so handsome so maybe you can break through my thick skull.

Nope, no such luck.

(h/t Irene)