Netanyahu Finds Obama Not a Pushover
As their meeting yesterday ended in a stalemate, time will tell if Obama will maintain his determination in insisting on a two state solution for Palestine and Israel and an end to Israel's ongoing settlements.
I wrote the following in March: "The relationship between the US and Israel will be taking an interesting turn with the right wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
"And it will take a really interesting turn (let's see how the administration handles this) dealing with extreme far right wing, racist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Juan Cole at Informed Comment: "It is the most fateful encounter of two world leaders since Kennedy met Khrushchev. And Obama absolutely must not allow himself to be cowed or misunderstood as timid by Netanyahu, who is a notorious bully and warmonger. (Bill Clinton complained that Netanyahu when last prime minister thought that he was the superpower). If Obama can cow Netanyahu, his Middle East policy may have a chance. If Netanyahu comes away thinking he can thumb his nose at Washington, the whole Middle East could be in flames by the end of Obama's first term."
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler in an analysis at IPS News wrote: "In 1996, Netanyahu spoke adamantly against the creation of a Palestinian state. Now, though more ambiguous, Netanyahu still refuses steadfastly to line up with the two-state solution. Not that he is any more enamoured of Palestine than he was back then - but his ambiguity stems from the fact that he is fully aware that he is walking Israel along a dangerous tight-rope.
"Netanyahu insists it is not he who is out of step with the world - it is the world which out of sync with Middle East realities.
"Back in 1996, Netanyahu brashly told the U.S. administrators that they, in effect, "needed to change their hard disk" and should rather plug in to his alternative hardware. That was encapsulated in his "reciprocity" maxim - if the Palestinians 'give' (that is, fight terror), they will 'get' (recognition).
"The Israeli prime minister may have matured somewhat. The Netanyahu hard disk model 2009 is slightly more sophisticated, less arrogant. Still, he remains determined to show the new occupant of the White House that there is much to be learnt in the Middle East on the ground; he is again intent on correcting, through Washington, widespread "misconceptions" within the international community on how to go about peace-making.
"Israeli diplomatic analyst Aluf Benn puts it starkly in Haaretz: 'Despite the packaging difference, the content is similar. In 2009, as in 1996, Netanyahu wants to show that he can come to the White House, voice tough stances from his days on the campaign trail, and yet remain in one piece.'
"The lesson from that is clear: if Obama is indeed determined to make Netanyahu budge, it will have to be for something far more meaningful - like a total freeze of Israeli settlement activity as a prelude to the creation of the Palestinian state.
"But, determined as he may be, the U.S. President will still be obliged to face up to what even critics of Netanyahu recognise is of broad regional concern - Iran's nuclear quest.
"Barack Obama's success in turning Netanyahu on Palestine may well depend on his ability to guarantee to the Israeli leader that he will be as successful in turning Iran on its nuclear project - one way or another. But, that it is not at all a question of which of these two critical challenges ought to take precedence since they both, in the Obama outlook, need to be addressed head-on, at one and the same time.
"This equation is the true Obama Middle East test."
Margaret Talev and Dion Hissenbaum at McClatchy Newpapers write: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged Monday from hours of meetings with President Barack Obama agreeing to restart the Palestinian peace process "immediately," but with conditions that indicated that no breakthroughs are imminent.
"Obama, meanwhile, defended his diplomatic approach to Israel's enemy Iran, saying that the Iranian-supported terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah had grown stronger under the Bush administration's no-diplomacy stance toward Iran.
" 'We're not going to have talks forever,' Obama said, and he predicted that 'we should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year' as to whether a diplomatic approach to Iran is going anywhere.
"In a joint appearance with Obama at the White House, Netanyahu said that any progress with the Palestinians would hinge on the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
"Netanyahu also declined to use the phrase 'two-state solution,' which Obama said should be the goal. Instead, Netanyahu said that Israelis 'don't want to govern Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel.'
"Obama said that Israeli 'settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward.' Netanyahu, however, made no public commitment toward that, and as they met, Israeli settlers were moving forward with plans to build Israel's first new settlement in the Jordan Valley in more than a quarter-century.
"The two leaders spoke kindly to one another. Netanyahu called Obama "a great leader of the world" and a friend. Obama praised the prime minister's "youth and wisdom" and announced, "I'm confident that he's going to seize this moment."
"However, their body language appeared strained at times during their public appearance, and Obama made clear that he expects Israel to make some concessions.
" 'We have seen progress stalled on this front, and I suggested to the prime minister that he has an historic opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his tenure,' he said."
And Jim Lobe reports at IPS News:
"While Obama said he may be prepared to impose additional sanctions against Iran early next year if diplomatic efforts to persuade it to curb its nuclear programme fail to make progress, he refused to set what he called "an arbitrary deadline." Israeli officials had pressed Washington for an early October deadline.
"And while Obama repeatedly stressed the importance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu never uttered the phrase or alluded to the possibility of a Palestinian state during a 30-minute press appearance with the U.S. president after their meeting in the Oval Office.
"Obama's determination to conclude a two-state settlement, however, clearly clashes with the agenda of Netanyahu's new right-wing government, which is not only publicly opposed to a two-state solution but whose top priority is to prevent Iran – by military means, if necessary – from obtaining a nuclear-weapons capability, a capability which, according to some senior Israeli intelligence officials, it may acquire as soon as the end of this year.
"Indeed, Netanyahu and his allies among U.S. neo-conservatives and other elements of the so-called 'Israel Lobby' here have argued that Israel cannot be expected to advance the peace process when it faces the "existential" threat posed by a nuclear Iran, particularly given Tehran's support for Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Until that threat is addressed, they insist, little or no progress can be achieved on the Palestinian front.
"But Obama explicitly rejected that thesis Monday. While recognising 'Israel's legitimate concerns' about Iran's nuclear ambitions, he said, 'If there is a linkage between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, I personally believe it actually runs the other way.' "
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