breaking news here today a second reported israeli air strike on syria in less than forty eight hours supposedly talk it's a military research site claims it cost hundreds of casualties. thank you very much for joining us here on this sunday on real research live in moscow let's get straight to our breaking news for you this hour syrian state t.v. has said that israel bombed syria overnight and this has been confirmed by at least one u.s. official at the strike supposedly targeted a military research side in damascus and just

a bit earlier in the program here on c i spoke with syrian journalist xeni for the latest from the scene. attack took place at around two o'clock damascus time after midnight it was a big three explosion took place attacking a research center and other military stations military units let's say this lead to an earthquake. something like three to four on the richter scale and big fire blanched over and over the mountain this was seen everywhere in damascus all the houses in damascus which shake everyone work up and. this lead into the very very have very big explosions in some immunity warehouses and in the area and the destruction in addition to the reaction lead led by the. this explosion in some civilian houses the first estimation of the numbers we have

something like three hundred soldiers were killed in the unit five zero one and we have civilians there was one of two where. we have others in the hospitals we have hundreds were hospitalized with the main three or four hospitals up to now. t.v. declared from the first hour that this is the israeli airstrike it said that. this is a kind of held city a revolt against the government. reaction to what the syrian government has been achieved there's been talk about an official statement to be issued later on after now we are waiting for it now with people saying that up to now not there would be an official statement or not an official statement a lot of talk about something like that making at. there is big rumors up to now about. one airplane one air jet that was headed by the syrian

air defense. there are more rumors also about. catching two pilots from this. jet but. we've also been getting these unconfirmed reports of one if not possibly two israeli airplanes are shot down over syrian territory i must ask you again it's very difficult during such a time of conflict involved and so it's very difficult to confirm reports and confirm certain aspects of speculation but an israeli n.g.o.s a reporter that syria was preparing to declare war on israel the worst response to the attack or any any confirmation on that. we cannot say this is an injury or this means it's not an official source of information a lot of talk about this and the social media people are calling for this it's not launching a would maybe it's that back should be painful because this is not the first time

to attack on syria. we remember what it did was an attack on the same research center which is centered. now in this direction damascus is very difficult we have we hear it every time some. because of some bombs were not destroyed we have heard of the time the ambulance got everyone so it's possible nobody knows where when and where. and all these middle east correspondent paula sleep now with the latest from the israeli side. western intelligence source says that israel carried out its second is striking days on syria in the early hours of this morning sunday but as of yet there is still no comment from the israeli government or the israeli army about these explosions and it's also adult for that will get any kind of comment of course the israeli position very often is not to comment and this does give some kind of warning to the damascus regime that even if the israelis are not responsible for this attack the message they want to come across is that the

strike has the capabilities of israel being able to do such a thing we have been on the phone with the israeli foreign ministry since the early hours of this morning those who are speaking to are not prepared to confirm or deny the report either the enemy israeli military spokesperson who says we don't respond to this kind of report now in recent days there have been signs of mounting tensions between israel and his below which is a militant organization based in lebanon and live with the damascus government in a warning to israel really of this week the his chief hassan nasrallah said his militia was ready and to quote him it has its hands on the trigger in the event of an israeli attack on internal and it's been on over the past few days the israeli military called out civil thousand reservists for what it called a surprise military exercise on its border with lebanon so the point needs to be made that although this strike first specifically to syria it's very closely aligned with developments in lebanon and has the potential of not only

a regional conflict but international implications smalling as a tech it comes just a day after the israeli official said that israel had carried out an overnight thursday attack that targeted a consignment of missiles in syria that were intended for his villa in lebanon if indeed today's strike is also confirmed by the israelis it will be israel's third strike inside syria since late january not syrian state television also says that this morning strikes were a response to. recent military gains by assad's forces against rebels who have been trying to topple him for the better part of two years so to me the scale of this morning's the text shows that it is the yawned the military capability of just the syrian rebels and this is why you have observers pointing the finger at israel in terms of helping and assisting the syrian rebels i would guess is also said that they saw. at the time of the blast and this seems to concern other reports we've

received that israeli jets were being used so the point again the conflict has the potential to become international people on the ground are watching it very very closely and it's almost intensifying by the minute we of course will keep you up to date. his policy there are support or just a few moments ago here on r.t. the u.s. is strongly backing its israeli allies over the crisis is more important as the latest washington's reaction. u.s. president barack obama wouldn't specifically comment on the reported israeli airstrikes into damascus instead saying that israel is justified in protecting itself from a dance to weapon shipments to the lebanon based group hezbollah most recently we did hear comments coming from the u.s. secretary of defense chuck hagel saying that now the white house is considering to arm the opposition in syria with weapons this is a stance and

a position that washington was reluctant to take instead saying that it would give financial support that would go to other logistics but not weapons other communication equipment other ways in which the opposition and the rebels could fight against the syrian government but now we see that the position at least coming from some members of the white house the position of the u.s. administration is changing but you know you're hearing a variety of different comments one comment one position coming from the secretary of defense and then with when the u.s. president speaks he's a little bit more cautious with his words but over the past few weeks we are hearing this his drumming of rhetoric coming from u.s. officials that are is beating what some would call a drum of potential military intervention. on his more important just a bit earlier in the program i spoke to a senior correspondent for israel's ha'aretz newspaper he believes the reports of israeli air strike inside syria is justified as

a preemptive attack by telling to ensure its own security. this is part of the israeli policy which you can describe. but do not announce or don't plan but don't tell don't let the syrian regime transfer surface to surface missiles and surface to me so stupid smaller but don't brag about it so while the reason the official confirmation you can take it almost as face value when you hear the us side confirm it officially what about the legality of israel bombing syria like this without even a un mandate i mean how do you expect the international community to react to this well the israeli and syrian governments have been paying a fragile cease fire for the last forty years however next door in lebanon on the lebanese government does not control hezbollah and has well i want to take these

arms from syria and position them within lebanon which is illegal because law is in a state of war wheezy israel and while you may say that flying over space is not exactly according to international law and this is nick peeking in and while there are many reasons on other aspects to be critical of israeli policy it does seem good this time around. white balance because only trying to prevent and preempt further conflict so i'm so you talk about the israeli airstrike being balanced you call the israeli airstrike balance we've got unconfirmed reports now of at least four hundred people killed during this overnight jet fighter weapon strike massive explosions a video footage there has been absolutely incredible you call this a balanced reaction to unconfirmed reports that the syrian officials are moving surface to air missiles to hezbollah which they are denying at the time you call it

balanced ok let me clarify first of all the reason of course and regrettably so a massacre going on in syria has gone on for the last two years with many thousands of people being killed others perhaps in the hundreds of. and now being reduced across the border and israelis trying to prevent the lebanon war this is perhaps a minor price to pay. in order not to pay the bigger price of the killing and we have a which will be wreaked by another lebanon war. all right now for more insight on the escalating conflict i'm joined by beirut based journalist and middle east expert ali risk coming here on r t today good to see you this isn't just an isolated incident but a series of air offenses above a foreign territory why why is israel being so persistent despite the fact that

such military action is a clear violation of international law. i think you have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together remember that the all of the fuel rather you have a clue about chemical weapons who was the one which made this first announcement it was bruno the military intelligence israeli official made the announcement about syria using chemical weapons from a very beginning after president obama had said time and again that he is the red line that didn't succeed thus far in dragging the us to war against syria so now i think that we had two incidents there with i reported the israeli strike on a convoy and now we have been did an israeli strike on jim but i think we have a classical example of what we would call israel trying to manipulate us policy in the middle east trying to drag obama yet again into another confrontation

i think that is the case which we which we have right now once again so you know israel is going to continue i think with these practices until it drags the us into a conflict why the reason being that the syrian army has made military advancements very recently it seems that bashar al assad militarily has gained the upper hand and so is where i realized assad won't be going unless there is outside intervention outside intervention as i said trying to drag the us by saying if you don't go in then we will we shall wreak havoc we shall go ahead with our own military escalation we have in fact so we've already been hearing from analysts around the world suggesting that israel has stepped up to the plate perhaps being willing to be the number one provocator so to try and get some sort of reaction out of our side at the moment we're hearing also though that from some commentators from israel that the strikes are a balanced reaction do you agree. reaction

to what do you mean you know it's me in israel's interests for this to happen has there been any escalation against israel for israel to react has there been any military action has israel being been attacked by any side whether it be husband law whether it be syria whether it be housed israel in the been attacked by any side whatsoever israel has not been attacked so we hear this talk about you know game changing weapons but all of this you know doesn't doesn't give the right to war doesn't give the justification for for such escalation from the very beginning you know when you speak about for example i heard your previous analyst speaking about you know husband lol preventing a second lebanese war as if to say that hezbollah is the one which initiates the war as if to say that israel is a no one which launches the aggressions you are we have that we've been having is

ready overflights escalation in level on for around three days you know i'm pretty certain that escalation in two thousand and six it was israel also which was the one which escalated its campaign so any weapons whether they be game changing or not destined to husband law i am to defend lebanon and i am to prevent israel from going ahead and continuing continuing with these expansionist policies but once again i have to emphasize the clear message if anyone had any doubts i think now it has become clear israel wants. to fall out of that that is israel's choice why because netanyahu has nothing else himself has said time and again syria is the linchpin between iran and hezbollah the formidable force where you bring up a very very good one and indeed the issue of hezbollah and out of iran i mean for example the assad government which has been portrayed as a warring tyrant by many countries has now become the victim of a very powerful war machine of course that of israel and the i.d.f.

forces do you think lebanon's hezbollah and indeed iran could they weigh in if indeed syria did go to war with israel. well that's the big question the husband alida cited hossa not so a lot i think made it clear and he even provides an answer to your question what he said in a speech last thursday he said that. that syria's real friends meaning hezbollah iran and also russia one allow syria to fall into the hands of the us israel all the tech petey's meaning of the al qaida affiliates now when did say the us and made these and make these statements after two meetings one with ayatollah khomeini into one on and the other one with the russian deputy foreign minister mr book done over here in beirut following those meetings and saying it has been issued those statements about syria's real friends not allowing it to fall into us is ready or i would call either hand so i think what you have now is that iran and

hezbollah now have a new significant ally of real significant weight which is russia which is returning to the middle east seen once again so i think that if we do have an escalation iran will intervene hezbollah will intervene and i think also here we might speak about our russian intervention or some kind of a russian role as well because russia clearly has been very very much present and are in very much you know they're saying i am here and i have a significant say in what happens for many months indeed for many months indeed russia has been one of the only world leaders to say we must talk to all sides of this ongoing conflict a beirut based journalist middle east expert risk a great pleasure to have you on today thanks for sharing your sunday with us. now our view of our breaking news story here on this morning a u.s. military official has confirmed a second israeli air strike on syria in less than forty eight hours backed up early

reports on syrian state television though so far there's been no official confirmation from israel unverified footage from damascus have a look right here showing a massive explosion as well this at the site of the strike it's said to have targeted a huge military facility the reports are coming in of hundreds killed and injured although there's been no official announcement unconfirmed reports are also emerging that an israeli plane was shot down during the attack and its two pilots taken captive by the latest asteroid comes less than two days off of the previous israeli bombing of syria and on a most israeli officials said that attack targeted a shipment of syrian missiles on its way to hezbollah. a similar attack is said to have been carried out by israel earlier this year in january and damascus has denied it's been trying to find advanced weapons of hezbollah i do stay with us here on out see the latest on this developing story and more updates from around

the world in just a moment. oh. well the british. market. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's no holds barred look at the global financial headlines.

all right twenty minutes past the hour here in the russian capital t. with me rule received the unemployment level in the european union hit record highs this week with the rate going up across most of the member states in fact the ever rising figures are alarming and rising year by year greece and spain the most affected in greece twenty seven percent now of the work force out of a job while in spain every one in four unemployed at the increasing joblessness of

many and poor working conditions for some triggered massive demonstrations around the world that was on may day that the most turbulent protests took place in turkey where police have to disperse demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons after it all turned violent at least twenty eight people were injured in clashes and dozens more were arrested in greece the country worst hit by the crisis the day of action was marked by a twenty four hour strike while spain has seen demonstrations in more than eighty cities. now reports. the unemployment rate in the years old has recently reached a record twelve percent of for those age twenty five and below in countries like spain and greece that number is as high as more than fifty percent with very little signs of any economic improvement now for those who are looking for a job that search is no longer just about trying to find work many are now trying to leave their home countries. like niccolo wriggles e a biology graduate from italy now working initial clytie in brussels and the

situation in italy was actually awful because the only thing i was able to get is a really short contract for like free mouth for six months with absolutely no possibility of growing out in an industry or in the laboratory anything most to most of them were totally unpaid because you can't really think of your future he says it wasn't a walk in the park in beijing either as many companies require a working knowledge of both french and dutch a barrier that may be hard to overcome that perhaps still more attractive for some the going back home to rich. in two thousand and twelve. and the person the person of young people who every great from italy grew up by thirty forty percent in two thousand and twelve i really don't know what will be

interesting for you and it's not just the citizens feeling the pinch foreigners would come to europe to seek new opportunities starting their will businesses and building their lives have now will also change their minds freds iana this meant leaving greece and go to all the way back to her native ecuador and while homesickness was the initial reason for the move she has no regrets about making that decision the sixty one cared also many for. and is decided to leave greece and move to countries like germany and switzerland but the greeks who stayed behind are saying that the situation is really difficult there for instance servicemen he used to get one and a half thousand euros are now paid just nine hundred our place has been open for two years even though still new i believe we have very good prospects for the future this is not something she says just isn't possible in the year right now to trend look at the figures in countries like ireland some people argue that

a whole generation has left and perhaps for good. i don't think so why they've run their stay here for the same day or so sylvia i've seen brussels . but such out some other news stories that have been shaping this week around the world and here on are to you of course the u.k. independence party making a major breakthrough in local elections claiming one in every four votes cast the conservatives of course part of the ruling coalition now admitting that all mainstream parties have huge lessons to learn from the group seeking the country's withdrawal from the e.u. let's take a closer look at the party's gains and losses here on r.t. here come the numbers for you right now the conservatives are down three hundred and thirty five seats while the coalition partners the liberal democrats lost one hundred twenty four the opposition labor party that's up by two hundred ninety one and ukip now gaining

a hundred and thirty nine new local councillors that's an achievement the head of the party nigel farage heralded as the arrival of that zero four party politics and the deputy leader of the u.k. independence party paul not all he spoke to us here at odds here about the party's long term plans and issues with that's right yes. david cameron is committed to the european union we know that because he said if there is it that friends and he will campaign to stay in and if you're members of the european union you can't control your own borders so we have a problem in this country where we have twenty two percent youth unemployment a million kids in britain who are going to weigh every day and what about to open our borders all to twenty nine million remaining in a bulgarians when restrictions fall on january first income earners are permitted that is not a good can do about that so quite frankly we're not worried that he's going to park his tank on our tails because he simply can't we will take

a seat in the house of commons if not two seats before the general election in two thousand and fifteen if we continue on our trajectory and by elections i mean we are finishing seconds and a lot of buy elections now particularly in the north of england and i think that we can eventually take a seat in a byelection but let's not forget that a big elections next year the european elections take place in june two thousand and fifteen these are the elections that we will win i genuinely believe we will send more any peace but it's a brochure than any other party and then in two thousand and fifteen ukip will be standing in every single constituency and we will be putting up a good fight if we enter the election on double digits ahead of the liberal democrats we have leadership debates in this country and will be on those leadership debates of people wipe the floor with clegg cameron. this is r.t. live from moscow and results released on saturday show the iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki did win provincial elections two weeks ago despite the fact its

government is mired in corruption and crisis over how to share power among the nation's very different groups on the ground iraq is seeing some of its worst bloodshed since the pullout of u.s. troops in two thousand and eleven the u.n. said this week of the more than seven hundred people were killed in april and over six hundred injured across the land in sectarian. islands many fearing the unrest could send the nation back into a full scale conflict in old comes ten years after george w. bush declared america's victory over saddam hussein a political analyst i assume cunt chandan believes the only hope for iraq is uniting to overcome sectarian divisions. in matters in the country or in a diet stay in unfortunately this has been visiting upon this war should be one of the greatest countries and peoples of the region for many decades now bucky people are great people they have made many achievements historically and in modern history so you know that there is always hope in the worst situations but the trajectory of history currently is disastrous for the nation and unfortunately but

one hopes that they can actually build upon the sparks of unity that happened post two thousand and three in the resistance when when when sunni and shia iraqis what defacto united against resistance against the occupation and let's remember the s.a.'s in basra in two thousand and five wearing our head dresses with bomb making equipment who got caught by the iraqi police we know whose hands are all behind this and that is in london washington and paris etc. still to come bit later in the program here on out see the changing face of law enforcement in britain the next time you're in london don't be surprised if you stumble upon a hard line islamists patrolling the streets so we meet them shortly after the break.

most people in the western world would agree that having laws that officially creates second class citizens is totally unacceptable we can look at the way jews were treated in nazi germany or black starting apartheid in south africa and the slavery jim crow areas in the usa as examples of legally dividing society by necessity i think most people with their modern sensibilities would find these practices we bob baer american backwards but my question is that why is there to this day officially sanctioned second class citizens in certain e.u. countries or to be more accurate i should say non-citizen residents of the two million people in latvia around three hundred thousand of them are considered non-citizen residents who can neither vote nor hold public office these non-citizens are russian speakers of various ethnic backgrounds whose children also by birth bearer of the non-citizen status not happy being on the bad side of apartheid the non-citizens have logically decided to vote for their own parliament because they can't elect or participate in the left field what even if the

parliament has no power whatsoever it will be their chance to shine light on the issue which the mainstream media has been keeping quiet for years you know you'd think that people would be outraged over segregation but what happens to russians and russian speakers it's just not cool or hip or trendy or convenient enough for the mainstream media to take notice but that's just my opinion. twelve thirty pm on sunday here in moscow this is r.t. this week the united nations human rights office branded the treatment of detainees at guantanamo bay as torture and says indefinite detention and force feeding constitute inhumane treatment and violate international law and the u.n. experts called on the u.s. to either charge or release the prisoners and this comes as more inmates join the

grueling three month hunger strike at the american facility in cuba the plight of the prisoners there has upped the pressure on washington to shut down what president obama called illegal no man's land the american military admits the total number of protesters is now more than one hundred but lawyers for the captives say the actual figure has always been much higher cindy newco representing one of the good mo inmates she believes the u.s. could end the crisis just by showing some basic respect for religious beliefs. prisoners our client all vital to have been on strike february second he has chosen not to eat not to speak any to some the guards in protest business intention forcing someone to do what they don't want to do and timing them down driving them into a chair and sticking to their nose is surprising them of the liberty you have they want with their own body reserves had our co-counsel visit him yesterday we have my

co-counsel and richardson will be with him next week and he remains committed to continuing to protest not just harvesting conditions on the base but now also force feeding of the prisoners and his indefinite detention without any sort of report and the problem could be resolved with something as simple as. meeting with and talking to the prisoners as discussing with them what it is that it's going to take and the hunger strike and it's as simple as allowing them to return their qur'an or to not have their current search that they haven't been security for many years and we finally heard from president obama on the issues he has been silent for many months many years now since he committed to close the prison we finally heard in his renewed for an annual condemnation of the prisoner. muslims laying down sharia law on the streets of london may sound surprising but has become reality in

parts of the british capital but many locals are not willing to put up with such unconventional patrols despite what these islamist activists call the good intentions. first caught up with some of the newly fledged vigilant. but that is of misinformation on taste trying to pay serial or an unsuspecting members of the public first hit the headlines there was an outcry in britain well since then some arrests have been made found out self-titled most of them patrols still in operation the muslim community will continue to patrol the streets and clear the streets of the us isn't even given to. this group called themselves the shari'a project. they make a point of differentiating themselves from the more hardline missile and patrol his videos cause such anger we think with things like this we almost.

got it i wish. i were. a little longer but they become. very focused on the rockets all this patrol they say that whilst they share many of the same he's asked the other patrols they've never employed the same tactics. that the bank. would listen i mean looking at those patrols i can say that is commendable but. decided to take some kind of action against you know these things taking place. the actual actions and the shouting that we were still in. play today obviously there is always a better way to do things my approach as a muslim is to advise muslim brother if i see you do an action that perhaps more appropriate always advise me to say what is better for many in the mainstream. with impunity these patrols are closed the concern was if it is ensuring widespread

media coverage many muslim leaders have condemned their actions is wrong and i'm representing. these individuals are a fringe minority you know they don't represent the muslim community there's two point seven million muslims in the case and they they they you know they would never. condone this type of behavior the groups were very clear to us that they have peaceful intentions some of the members are alleged to be involved with the more extreme patrols while members served three and a half years in prison on charges of terrorist fund raising and inciting terrorism is thieves and it didn't take him long to make his more hardline he's known they fight it out all over the land going to him i believe so because i believe those who disbelieve in the oneness of god part of this nation would be the end point anyway and those laws at the establishment that would go with them would. be a roll makes it into the empire so i have no respect of usual whatsoever i asked

the leader of the sharia project whether he was concerned by statements like that i said you know if you take it from the passive approach that i don't think you fix the country and these are great but if you were doing no shouting and protesting your food before you started to do the charade which i think you something don't reach to see for your agent to face this in many base amongst the muslim and the why to push this community there are worries not just about these actions but about the potential repercussions the relative peace movement dorsey could have on a much larger scale so r.t. . and on our website r.t. dot com right now political vendettas turn personal fury against the muslim brotherhood in egypt spills over the son of a leader in the islamist movement lynched for a murder he allegedly committed. those details on the web site.

also there for you a world war two veterans and. probably the. possible for the upcoming victory day and they've received letters containing free burial. for millions of orthodox believers are celebrating easter in church ceremonies around the world one of orthodox christianity is most important services into the resurrection of jesus christ. that russia's main. cathedral of christ the savior that of course in downtown moscow the celebrations ongoing. price does freeze and thus the phrase our two dogs risk read each other with the celebration continues early on saturday you believe. in the church of the holy sample in jerusalem and the fly is described by our two dogs believers as

a miracle that happened after year on the eve of the easter celebration later that fire is distributed to the r.v. docks countries including ballo russia serbia georgia and many others and it was also brought to russia. in moscow's of neugebauer airport and was a later delivery to the christ as savior which is really a bit louder and more are to doc's cathedral in the country and that's where the a main easter service was taking place now this service to began shortly before midnight on saturday chris and believers holding candles and carrying on around the cathedral. glory following the resurrection of jesus christ and that service lasted for several hours and did so well into the early hours of sunday it was also a time to buy the russian president vladimir putin and prime minister we do and really despite what about a lot of this day as it was pouring with rain throughout saturday still hundreds of

people here to this special night service easter is a pretty sedate it's a by quite a long period of fasting b.g. verse abstain from meat ax fish and products for forty eight days which they tend to spongy praying and this is a night service is then followed by the easter sunday that's one of those give each other colored folks that they've prepared and special russian easter brad which is called beach it is really a very special moment and a special day for millions of our two dogs to believe around the globe as they sell . rate the most important date in the art the dots calendar. in a collection of about are still to come here on out c just a moment we hear from a doctor out of st holly the author of the book how the u.s. has undermined peace in the middle east that's coming up in just a might. choose

your language. of holy week you would know if they still some of. the consensus get to. choose the opinions that you think are great. choose the stories that in your life choose access to. yes the first of the surplus upgraded he's a lawyer civilian yeah yeah yeah i am

. i am i. feel. i saw your soul you. really really want to know what he was doing yes good shit so well it was for the horse's. feet. if. he'd. see fifi. to.

see. if some. he is an author and professor at columbia university and his new book is called brokers of deceit how the u.s. has undermined peace in the middle east joining our team now for an exclusive one on one interview is dr rashid khalidi thank you very much for taking the time stick with me today pleasure may you argue that over thirty plus years the u.s. has used language to undermine the peace process and you say even the phrase peace process when spoken by u.s. administrations has been extremely disingenuous why so well the term peace process

itself is an example of what i'm talking about orwellian language and saying things that are fundamentally not true united states brokered peace treaty between egypt and israel to call for a number of years but they've got to they've got a result president carter started working on palestinian autonomy so-called another word that's used in my view in a disingenuous way in one nine hundred seventy eight thirty five years ago so united states has been engaged in a process there's no question for three and a half decades it hasn't produced peace and i are here in this book that in fact if you look structurally at what where they were trying to attempt they couldn't have achieved peace what they were trying to do in essence was to do something that was under a ceiling of what israel would allow and now that did not amount to anything that the palestinians could ever accept a didn't really amount to real statehood or real self-determination so it was a process which was described as a peace process but it really wasn't it couldn't have led to a resolution of this conflict what is the u.s. gain from undermining peace in the middle east many would argue that it's in the

u.s. his interests to create peace in the two state solution well in the it's clear that achieving peace between major countries like egypt and israel for example wasn't the u.s. interest it was a u.s. interest because a clash between egypt and israel had the potential back in the days of the cold war of a superpower conflict in one seventy three for example. fortunately on the palestine issue there is no weight of opinion no body of powerful interests that say you have got to resolve this because it will be harmful in this and that way to the united states if you don't there was briefly during the occupation of iraq when you had a number of leading strategic figures the van secretary of defense secretary gates the then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mullen and general petraeus when he was commander in iraq all of whom said america's bias on this issue america's failure to resolve this harms it in the arab world but you don't hear that forcefully argued in washington what you do hear forcefully argued is people

who say no no you mustn't push beyond certain israeli red lines and these people have tended to prevail in the past circe essentially saying that the u.s. right now is acting as so-called lawyer for for israel they're not as as mediators or brokers between israel and and palestine in the book i talk about numerous cases where this is exactly what happened and i end up using the term that was in fact not even i didn't even coined the term israel's lawyer it was an american diplomat who's been engaged for decades in this aaron david miller and he himself was quoting sector state kissinger so i think it's an apt term in fact united states has not been an honest broker when i was an advisor to the palestinian negotiators from ninety one to ninety three we saw multiple instances of the united states supposedly mediating but in fact being even less forthcoming than were the israelis themselves and so you know clearly the united states has not been an honest broker or a fair mediator in fact it has tended to be even less even less willing to take certain

daring moves than where the israelis at certain points now in the past how is stance have had a certain level of confidence in certain us presidents right you argue that right now the palestinians carry this point in the u.s. president barack obama. well. a number of us presidents including president obama at early stages in their presidency have tried to push beyond the arm biloba of what is accepted in terms of what the israelis will let you get away with basically what the lobby will accept what israeli prime ministers will fight you over they say obama has tried i would argue the president carter tried president reagan tried president bush sr tried president clinton tried and president obama tried but in each case they have been they've been they've been rebuffed and they haven't pursued pursued or persisted in what they were trying to do so i think we've now reached a point where. a interim supposedly interim solution this palestinian authority which was a.