Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Obama, Netanyahu pow wow



Obama Tells Netanyahu He Has an Iran Timetable -Sheryl Gay Stolberg

President Obama said that he expected to know by the end of the year whether Iran was making "a good-faith effort to resolve differences" in talks aimed at ending its nuclear program, signaling to Israel as well as Iran that his willingness to engage in diplomacy over the issue has its limits.

"We're not going to have talks forever," Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a meeting in the Oval Office.
(New York Times)


U.S.-Israel Convergence on Iran -Howard Schneider

"There is the beginning of a strategic convergence of the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government," said Dore Gold, a Netanyahu adviser and former ambassador to the UN.

"Both recognize that there are real dangers that could undermine the security of both countries, in particular Iran."
(Washington Post)


Iran, Not Palestine, Tops Israel's Agenda -Alon Pinkas

Imagine if the 9/11 terrorists who crashed planes into New York and Washington had nuclear weapons.

If Iran is not prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons, an independent Palestine will constitute nothing more than an advanced and violent Iranian outpost.
(Times-UK)


Obama Reiterates Call for Two-States, Netanyahu Stresses Security
-Jake Tapper, Simon McGregor-Wood & Huma Khan

[B]ehind their profuse praise for each other, the two leaders have clear differences on the two-state solution and construction in disputed territories.

Netanyahu said that if, and when, negotiations were to start, there are issues on which Israel is not willing to negotiate: Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state -- referring to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' refusal last month to do so...
(ABC News)


Middle East Requires Pragmatic Realism -Editorial

A dose of skepticism on Netanyahu's part about a two-state solution is understandable.

In 2000, the Clinton administration brokered a deal in which then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was offering a deal that would have set up an independent state in all of Gaza and 95% of the West Bank. PLO leader Yasser Arafat rejected the offer [and] responded with a four-year suicide-bombing campaign against Israeli civilians.

In the last analysis, it is doubtful whether the Palestinians are sufficiently mature enough to put their need of a homeland ahead of their unjust armed struggle against Israel's right to exist.
(The Australian)
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