Obama, Netanyahu seem headed for US-Israel clash
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's premier on Wednesday dismissed President Barack Obama's reported displeasure with his hard-line policies toward the Palestinians, a sisgn that the two could be headed for a showdown.
Polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win Israel's elections next week and continue in office.
This week an American columnist with close ties to the White House described Obama's disdain for Netanyahu, warning that Israel's all-important relations with the U.S. could suffer in unprecedented ways if the Israeli government doesn't change its policies.
Such a clash would come at a tense time when regional developments appear to be working against Israel.
Israel and the U.S. are seen as disagreeing over how and when to deal with Iran's suspect nuclear program, and Islamist parties that Israel perceives as hostile are gaining clout in the Mideast.
As the world deals with those issues, even Israel's close allies are getting increasingly fed up with what they see as defiant Israeli settlement construction on lands the Palestinians want for a state.
The column Tuesday by Jeffrey Goldberg about Obama's attitudes toward Netanyahu dominated Israeli news media, leading some Israeli officials to fume that Americans were trying to sway the results of next Tuesday's parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu seemed to suggest that when reporters asked him to respond to the column in Bloomberg News.
"We all understand that only Israeli citizens will determine who faithfully represents Israel's vital interests," he told reporters, dismissing the reported criticism.
In his column, Goldberg wrote that Obama seems to view Netanyahu as a political coward whose unwillingness to make concessions to the Palestinians is plunging his country into diplomatic isolation.
"Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are," Goldberg cited Obama as saying.
While the U.S. will not cut off aid to Israel or waver on its commitment to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Goldberg wrote, Israel might not be able to count on U.S. vetoes at the U.N. Security Council, as it has in the past, when the world lines up against it.
Goldberg indicated that out of frustration with the peacemaking deadlock, Obama might present his own idea about a future state of Palestine — including endorsing the Palestinian demand to divide Jerusalem between the two sides, a concept Netanyahu rejects.
The White House did not deny the harsh sentiments Goldberg put in Obama's mouth. The tone and timing of column suggested the U.S. leader might be readying to play hardball with Netanyahu if the prime minister is re-elected — or conversely, wash his hands of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict altogether.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down shortly before Netanyahu's election in early 2009 and have remained frozen throughout his term, despite Obama's efforts early in his first term to prod both sides to reach a peace deal. But talks never took off, derailing primarily over Israeli settlement construction.
To sidestep the impasse, the Palestinians went to the United Nations in November to win recognition of a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in 1967 and still controls to varying degrees.
Israel retaliated by announcing plans for a new settlement construction surge, drawing unusually severe international rebukes.
"With each new settlement announcement, in Obama's view, Netanyahu is moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation," Goldberg wrote. "And if Israel, a small state in an inhospitable region, becomes more of a pariah, one that alienates even the affections of the U.S., its last steadfast friend, it won't survive."
Although diplomatic and security cooperation has remained firm during their overlapping tenures, the two leaders have had prickly relations from the beginning.
During one of Netanyahu's White House visits, Obama walked out of a meeting with the Israeli leader to eat dinner with his family — an account that Netanyahu's people deny. On another, the Israeli leader outraged his American hosts by appearing to lecture the president on regional security at a White House photo opportunity.
Some in the U.S. and Israel also perceived Netanyahu as favoring Obama's challenger in the 2012 presidential race, Mitt Romney.
Polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win Israel's elections next week and continue in office.
This week an American columnist with close ties to the White House described Obama's disdain for Netanyahu, warning that Israel's all-important relations with the U.S. could suffer in unprecedented ways if the Israeli government doesn't change its policies.
Such a clash would come at a tense time when regional developments appear to be working against Israel.
Israel and the U.S. are seen as disagreeing over how and when to deal with Iran's suspect nuclear program, and Islamist parties that Israel perceives as hostile are gaining clout in the Mideast.
As the world deals with those issues, even Israel's close allies are getting increasingly fed up with what they see as defiant Israeli settlement construction on lands the Palestinians want for a state.
The column Tuesday by Jeffrey Goldberg about Obama's attitudes toward Netanyahu dominated Israeli news media, leading some Israeli officials to fume that Americans were trying to sway the results of next Tuesday's parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu seemed to suggest that when reporters asked him to respond to the column in Bloomberg News.
"We all understand that only Israeli citizens will determine who faithfully represents Israel's vital interests," he told reporters, dismissing the reported criticism.
In his column, Goldberg wrote that Obama seems to view Netanyahu as a political coward whose unwillingness to make concessions to the Palestinians is plunging his country into diplomatic isolation.
"Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are," Goldberg cited Obama as saying.
While the U.S. will not cut off aid to Israel or waver on its commitment to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Goldberg wrote, Israel might not be able to count on U.S. vetoes at the U.N. Security Council, as it has in the past, when the world lines up against it.
Goldberg indicated that out of frustration with the peacemaking deadlock, Obama might present his own idea about a future state of Palestine — including endorsing the Palestinian demand to divide Jerusalem between the two sides, a concept Netanyahu rejects.
The White House did not deny the harsh sentiments Goldberg put in Obama's mouth. The tone and timing of column suggested the U.S. leader might be readying to play hardball with Netanyahu if the prime minister is re-elected — or conversely, wash his hands of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict altogether.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down shortly before Netanyahu's election in early 2009 and have remained frozen throughout his term, despite Obama's efforts early in his first term to prod both sides to reach a peace deal. But talks never took off, derailing primarily over Israeli settlement construction.
To sidestep the impasse, the Palestinians went to the United Nations in November to win recognition of a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in 1967 and still controls to varying degrees.
Israel retaliated by announcing plans for a new settlement construction surge, drawing unusually severe international rebukes.
"With each new settlement announcement, in Obama's view, Netanyahu is moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation," Goldberg wrote. "And if Israel, a small state in an inhospitable region, becomes more of a pariah, one that alienates even the affections of the U.S., its last steadfast friend, it won't survive."
Although diplomatic and security cooperation has remained firm during their overlapping tenures, the two leaders have had prickly relations from the beginning.
During one of Netanyahu's White House visits, Obama walked out of a meeting with the Israeli leader to eat dinner with his family — an account that Netanyahu's people deny. On another, the Israeli leader outraged his American hosts by appearing to lecture the president on regional security at a White House photo opportunity.
Some in the U.S. and Israel also perceived Netanyahu as favoring Obama's challenger in the 2012 presidential race, Mitt Romney.
Netanyahu and Obama are merely actors. Real policy (and deception) come from Mossad and Cia. It's those intelligence agencies that covertly support both extremes of many conflicts throughout the Middle East (phony 'Arab Spring') "Change" is really the same ol' same ol'
And I can already see Komo's plethora of Anti-Semites coming out of the wood work cheering their god Obama on to nuke Israel. After all, they're all less worthy than we are anyhow, and being that they believe in God, it's all the more urgent to get rid of them. Meanwhile, it makes great sense to cozy up to those that blew up 3000+ people in mere minutes with aircraft, and regularly abuse human rights and all of that.Â
So we are friends with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank and we are going to be enemies of the only true free democracy in the region? All of those places have patriarchal dictatorships that are run by Muslim extremists who believe amoung other things that homosexuals should be killed, women should wear veils and remain under lock and key, if you convert to another religion you should will be killed or jailed and all manner of anti-civil rights that we would go to war against if it was happening anywhere else. Israel is the only democracy, even Muslims participate in it. There are Muslim Palestinians in the Knesset. I can't understand the backward thinking of people who are for all kinds of liberal progressive ideas in their own homes, yet support archaic places that have zero civil liberties?
Our Jewish friends voted overwhelmingly for President Obama. I am sure he will return the favor... in some manner.
Screw Israel - we do not need them nor owe them for a damn thing
 @unobtanium We owe them alright. We owe them for the USS Liberty. We owe them for Pollard, and others. We owe them for the hate directed towards us for our support of them and their evil, deceitful, thieving ways. We owe them a nuke planted square on Dimona.Â
 @uscit16791949  @unobtanium LOL another I hate Israel anti-semite troll.
 @uscit16791949  @Gaikokujin  @unobtanium ROFL you have no clue do you. How sad
 @uscit16791949  @Gaikokujin  @unobtanium Anti-Semite = Anti-Jew. In otherwords you hate Jews.Â
 @Gaikokujin  @unobtanium Another boob. Define semite, go ahead look it up bonehead. What you are is another boob too lazy to get the truth on your own. The Israeli's killed, murdered, more Americans, in deliberate combat than the Soviets did during the cold war. That's who you've side with.
 @uscit16791949  @unobtanium What did they steal from us? Who DID they steal from? Or are you on about Palestinians? In that case, the United States, Russia, China, hell every Nation on this planet needs to be wiped off the map. EVERYONE has ended up someplace, generally not theirs until they took it. That being the case, you and I need not exist either. Thank you for your extremist antisemitic views. You know, Hitler thought the same way you do. You in which I mean generally those making comments like yourself, not you in particular.Â
 @uscit16791949 What Americans did they kill? Where is your proof of it? There never was a Palestine BTW. Before those boundaries were drawn up there WERE no National Boundaries in the ME. But then you wouldn't give a crap about that, your hatred of anything Jewish taints your logic. Why the insult? Did I exactly insult you? Nope, I pointed out that Hitler hated Jews as well. Want to know something? People have hated Jews since LONG before you or I were born. They were persecuted relentlessly in Europe during the Dark Ages, blamed for Plague and everything else negative that's happened during that time, well actually before and since. It doesn't matter that they didn't start such things like the Black Plague, it's their fault anyway. Seems to me that today is no different.Â
 @PhunkyMunky  @unobtanium It's always Hitler. Look this up idiot. What did the Jewish elite, the wealthy and powerful, do to help their fellow Jews? By the way, this may shock you, but there were a few other folks that died in WW2 besides Jews. This isn't about Jews, it's about a gangster State. Besides what are we doing siding with anyone over religion? You wouldn't be Jewish would you? They stole that land, and in the process made terrorism an art. Your thinking is flawed, upside down, no logic to it what so ever, which seems to be prevalent with supporters of Israel. Some people claim the Jews had the right to return and take that land because of history over a thousand years old. Using that logic pretty much wipes out what you said above. If the same logic that has been used to justify the Jewish occupation of Palestine were used everywhere...... Well you would be moving, and if you had a farm it would be destroyed or seized. Your well would be poisoned. You would be labeled a terrorist. But you're not a terrorist, you're a pathetic moron who votes.
 @PhunkyMunky  @unobtanium Another idiot. Apparently the murder of Americans is ok with you if it's Israel doing the killing.. Something else, idiot, this is a crime in progress and it's been in progress for my entire life. The Palestinians never gave up. Meaning the war is still in progress. You're ignorant. Willfully ignorant.Â
 @unobtanium This is the first administration that seems to feel the same way, unfortunately.  The only really viable democracy in the region is worth defending, in my opinion - or are you fine with them being blown off the map?
 @belsnicklesÂ
Blown off the map?
Â
I wonder which country in the Middle East has the most nuclear weapons?
 @unobtanium  @belsnickles That's why we should take out Dimona, and all of their nuclear facilities, nuclear weapon packing subs, etc... All in the space of minutes to be sure they can't strike back. Of all the nations on earth, with the exception of China, Israel is the one we need to keep a real close eye on. They are treacherous. Anyone doubting that should turn off the tv, and read. The UN web site has tons of documentation that details step by step how Israel came to be and what the Jews did to make it happen. The non-jews in that part of the world have good reason to distrust and hate the US.
 @belsnickles  @unobtanium Maybe we actually have a President with balls for a change.
 @uscit16791949  @belsnickles  @unobtanium Not likely