'Political Coward' Binyamin Netanyahu Sees Rift with Barack Obama Widen

THE OBSERVER: Israeli prime minister's aides accused American president of interfering in Israel's elections

Already fractious relations between Binyamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama have been further strained in the runup to the president's inauguration on Monday and the Israeli prime minister's anticipated victory in Tuesday's election.

Netanyahu aides accused Obama of interfering in the Israeli election following publication of an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, which quoted the president as saying: "Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are." Obama, wrote Goldberg, viewed Netanyahu as a "political coward".

The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, who has voiced alarm at the rupture between the two leaders, was due to meet a delegation of US senators, led by Republican John McCain, in Jerusalem on Saturday night to discuss strengthening strategic relations between the two allies.

"We must not lose the support of the United States. What gives Israel bargaining power in the international arena is the support of the United States... Without US support, it would be very difficult for us. We would be like a lone tree in the desert," he told the New York Times last week.

The Goldberg article, along with Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel as defence secretary, has been interpreted in Israel as clear signs of the president's exasperation with Netanyahu and possible payback for the latter's support of Obama's rival, Mitt Romney, in the US election in November. Hagel is seen as "anti-Israel" because of his questioning of Israeli government policy and the pro-Israel lobby in the US. » | Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem | Sunday, January 20, 2013

YNET NEWS: Fragile alliance: Op-ed: Netanyahu jeopardizing intimate dialogue with US on issues of great strategic importance » | Alon Pinkas | Friday, January 19, 2013

Obama: «je crois fermement
à une solution à deux Etats»
Mahmoud Abbas avec Barack Obama. Photo grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le président américain, qui reçevait jeudi soir le leader palestinien Mahmoud Abbas, a répété qu'il exigeait l'arrêt de la colonisation israélienne en Cisjordanie.

Barack Obama maintient le cap de la fermeté dans la relation entre Etats-Unis et Israël. Le président américain reçevait jeudi soir le leader de l'Autorité palestinienne, Mahmoud Abbas, à la Maison-Blanche. Une visite qui prend un ton tout particulier, alors que la nouvelle administration israélienne fait la sourde oreille à l'injonction de Washington, mercredi, de geler les constructions de colonies en Cisjordanie et refuse d'envisager la solution à deux Etats séparés préconisée par les Etats-Unis.

Mahmoud Abbas, qui ne contrôle concrètement que la Cisjordanie, le Hamas tenant d'une main de fer la Bande de Gaza, est venu à Washington pour rappeler l'urgence de relancer le processus de paix israélo-palestinien. Pour lui, «le temps est un facteur essentiel» dans l'affaire.

Le dirigeant palestinien a d'ailleurs remis à Barack Obama un document contenant des propositions pour sortir de l'impasse. «Ce document ne sort pas du cadre de la Feuille de route et de l'Initiative de paix arabe. Il contient des idées pour la mise en place de mécanismes d'application de ces deux plans», précise-t-il, assurant qu'Obama a promis de l'étudier.

Rappelant une nouvelle fois que les Etats-Unis sont «un allié inconditionnel» d'Israël, le président américain a adopté un ton optimiste sur la perspective d'un apaisement des tensions au Proche-Orient. «Je pense qu'il est important de ne pas s'attendre au pire, mais d'espérer le meilleur», a-t-il lancé, demandant à nouveau l'arrêt de la colonisation israélienne. >>> Samuel Laurent (lefigaro.fr) avec agences | Vendredi 29 Mai 2009

LOS ANGELES TIMES: U.S.-Israel Rift Becomes an Unusually Public One

President Barack Obama meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and repeats his tough stance on Jewish settlements. Obama is to deliver a speech to the Muslim world next week from Cairo.

Reporting from Jerusalem and Washington Richard Boudreaux -- President Obama and top Israeli officials staked out sharply opposing positions over the explosive issue of Jewish settlements Thursday, propelling a rare dispute between the two close allies into full public view just days before the U.S. leader is due to deliver a long-awaited address in Egypt to the world's Muslims.

Speaking after a White House meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama reiterated that he had been "very clear about the need to stop building settlements, to stop building outposts" on Palestinian territory.

Only hours earlier, the Israeli government said it would continue to allow some growth in the settler communities in the West Bank.

The exchange underscored the unusually hard-line position Obama has taken publicly with Israel early in his administration. Most U.S. presidents, aware of the political sensitivity, have worked hard to keep disagreements out of sight, when they existed.

The back and forth also added a contentious note to the start of a grueling period of Middle East peace talks that the White House has pledged to aggressively pursue. And it comes as Obama prepares his speech scheduled for next week that is aimed at repairing U.S. ties with the Muslim world.

The verbal disagreement with Israel defied expectations of U.S. and Israeli officials, as well as many analysts, who had predicted that the new American president and the newer conservative Israeli prime minister would seek a pragmatic way to avoid public clashes.

But since Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House 11 days ago, the contrasts have steadily risen in public view.

Obama believes an Israeli settlement freeze would elicit concessions from moderate Arab states, reinvigorating peace negotiations.

In staff-level talks that continue almost daily, Israeli officials have balked. >>> By Paul Richter and Christi Parsons and Richard Boudreaux | Friday, May 29, 2009