Text size  If I were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas I would
be deeply insulted by the negotiations U.S. President Barack
Obama is conducting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over
building permits in the settlements. Who authorized the
Americans - this administration or the previous one - to do
business with Palestinian land?  If I were Netanyahu I would be
very worried by Israel's image in the Arab world as a client of
the United States in the "natural growth" affair. How is it
possible that the proud Jewish government is begging the non-
Jews ("Rome" in Netanyahu's discourse, according to senior
adviser Uzi Arad), to allow it to build a kindergarten in
Ma'aleh Adumim?  If I were Obama I would tell Netanyahu that if
the settlers' children are so close to the prime minister's
heart, let him ask the Palestinian Authority to take their
crowded living conditions into consideration. After all, even
according to Israel's official position, Ma'aleh Adumim does not
belong to us but is considered disputed te