When I read how Sarah Palin is talking about her grandson’s father, especially in light of how the now infamous Levi Johnston talks about his son’s grandmother, I started to gain a new respect for her. She didn’t trash him like Levi has her. She didn’t stoop to his level but has opted to take the high road for now.

However, when I watched an excerpt from this week’s Barbara Walters interview, I cringed at her answer when she was asked about Obama’s call for a halt to new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. Her answer is simplistic and naive and fails to recognize the complexities of the situation on the ground.

“I disagree with the Obama administration on that,” Palin told Walters. “I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.”

Her answer to Walters’ question comes across as blind obedience to bad policy and an outdated ideology.