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Obama and Netanyahu to hold fence-mending talks
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Obama and Netanyahu to hold fence-mending talks
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By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON |
Tue Jul 6, 2010 9:12am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Tuesday seeking to show they have turned the page on an unusually rocky period in relations between Washington and its close ally.
Visiting the White House for fence-mending talks, Netanyahu will get a warmer welcome than in March when Obama kept him at arms' length in what was widely viewed as a snub over settlement policy seen by Washington as an obstacle to a Palestinian state.
Expectations for a major breakthrough are low, and Netanyahu made no comments to reporters on his flight from Tel Aviv.
But the meeting, postponed a month ago after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, could be a test of whether Obama can overcome recent tensions with Netanyahu and work together to restart long-suspended direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Obama is not likely to risk another diplomatic clash with Netanyahu with pivotal U.S. congressional elections looming in November and pro-Israel sentiment strong among American lawmakers and voters.
In a story coinciding with Netanyahu's visit, the New York Times said U.S. and Israeli public records showed at least 40 American groups collected more than $200 million in tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last decade.
Two years ago, a review by Reuters of U.S. tax records found 13 tax-exempt organizations openly linked to settlements that had raised more than $35 million between 2003 and 2008.
In its account, the Times said donations go mostly to schools, synagogues and recreation centers, but also to what it termed legally questionable commodities such as housing and rifle scopes.
MAKE-UP VISIT
Carefully choreographing what some analysts have dubbed a "make-up" visit, Obama's aides have arranged press coverage at the end of the Oval Office talks, when every bit of body language is sure to be scrutinized. Afterward, the leaders will attend a White House luncheon.
Last time, there was no photo-op and no meal for Netanyahu, whose visit marked a low point in his relationship with Obama.
The rare chill in relations has thawed recently with Obama shifting to a gentler tone and Netanyahu offering conciliatory gestures. The two also have found common ground opposing Iran's nuclear program, which will be high on Tuesday's agenda.
At the White House, Netanyahu plans to assure Obama he wants to upgrade indirect talks with the Palestinians to direct negotiations, something the president sees as vital to the goal of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"I am ready to meet (Palestinian) President (Mahmoud) Abbas today and tomorrow and the next day at any place," Netanyahu said last week.
While Obama's advisers insist differences have been narrowed, Palestinian leaders say the slow-moving U.S.-mediated talks have not yet made enough progress to justify the start of face-to-face negotiations.
A big question hanging over the fragile peace process is whether Netanyahu will extend beyond September a 10-month Israeli moratorium on new housing starts in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a limited freeze agreed upon only under pressure from Obama.
But such a move would put strain on Netanyahu's governing coalition, which includes a key far-right party.
Benny Begin, a rightist minister in Netanyahu's inner cabinet, appeared to rule out extending the moratorium.
"The prime minister said a few times that the status of settlements would be determined only in a final-status peace agreement with our neighbors," he told Israel Radio.
"Such agreement, as everybody knows, is not imminent at all. In the meantime, we have to ensure that our settlements are developed," he added.
Obama's aides insist the talks with Netanyahu will not dwell on time-sensitive specifics but will focus instead on broader peacemaking goals.
Pushing the peace process forward is central to Obama's agenda for repairing U.S. relations with the Muslim world, which have been strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Netanyahu's visit was originally scheduled for June 1. That meeting was scrapped after the Israeli raid on a Gaza aid ship on May 31, which sparked an international outcry and prompted Israel to ease its land blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.
Obama is expected to urge Netanyahu to consider further steps to loosen the flow of humanitarian aid and civilian goods to Gaza where he has deemed the situation unsustainable.
But Obama has limited room to maneuver in pressuring Israel. Hoping to stave off big losses by his Democrats in the mid-term elections, he wants to avoid giving Republicans ammunition to sow public doubt about his commitment to Israel.
The administration has worked hard to soften its tone toward Netanyahu after a diplomatic blowup sparked by Israel's March 9 announcement -- during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden -- of plans to build 1,600 more settler homes in an area of the West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem.
For his part, Netanyahu is keen to show the Israeli public that relations with their superpower ally are back on track but will be reluctant to offer major concessions that would anger pro-settler parties in his fragile coalition.
(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem; Editing by Bill Trott)
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Comments
See All Comments (9) | Post Comment
Jul 06, 2010 2:45am EDT
The Palestinians should brace themselves!
jrpardinas
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Jul 06, 2010 5:42am EDT
Both or them are in a damed if they do damed if they don’t situation that could cost them their strength in their respective governments.
Eric.Klein
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Jul 06, 2010 6:46am EDT
The US needs to cut ties with Israel. They are becoming a burden we no longer should support
STORYBURNeasy
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Jul 06, 2010 8:50am EDT
@STORYBURNeasy – good point! As soon as we cut ties with Israeli murderous regime, world Muslims will forgive us and will stop chanting Death To America!!! every change they get. It may also save many American flags from burning across the globe. I say – let them annihilate Israel and then there will be peace and quiet!
AllahMerciful
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Jul 06, 2010 9:19am EDT
maggie thatcher,said the reason there was never a war in europe,in the cold war era,was that both sides,had nuclear weapons,dennis skinner mp,said why not let isreal and palestine have them,then.if iran gets nuclear weapons,then isreals power will be diminished,and will have to make peace.
robbo123
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Jul 06, 2010 9:31am EDT
I don’t think any kind of violence in the Middle East will advance the cause for a lasting peace settlement, while the present set of personalities engage one another. An important issue that needs to be resolved is the fact that Israel has about 300 nuclear warheads and is holding the region to ransom, with the connivance of the USA. Why does Israel, from amongst all the countries in the world, need such extraordinary support? The USA does nothing similar for any other country!
Is it possible that an Iranian nuclear warhead could prove a deterrent in this uneven situation? There needs to be a balance of power in the Middle East similar to the days when the Soviet Union ensured that there would be no nuclear war. We do not have such a situation in the Middke East. The Palestinians with their pathetic Katusha rockets and catapults and pebbles, are no match for F16&18 fighter planes. What are the options? Forming alliances with countries who have nuclear capabilities. It is time that the battlefield was leveled. What would Israel’s options be then?
A meaningful peace settlement is the only option. The alternative is that Israel will, ultimately be destroyed, or destroy itself. Is that what the world wants?
kerahdah
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Jul 06, 2010 9:33am EDT
Obama is no different to any past president. At the moment he is focusing on keeping his slate clean and ensuring that he will be re-elected. He doesn’t have the balls to stand up to the Israeli lobby in Congress, or to Israel.
kerahdah
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Jul 06, 2010 10:30am EDT
the US shows favoritism with Israel what we would show any other nation in the same position Israelis r not international law and they should be punished for there actions as for settling in Gaza and west bank there will never be peace if u have that frankly deaths will just keep piling up until they wake up
sonomes222
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Jul 06, 2010 11:30am EDT
I agree with all of the comments so far except the one about annihilation. There definitely needs to be some sort of military balance of power in the region otherwise Israel will continue down its current path which is to make sure that any future Palestinian state is weak and dependent on them. Unfortunately Obama has proven to be just another politician who promises much and delivers little in the way of real leadership; but then the United States hasn’t had a real leader since FDR. Everyone elected since have merely been seat warmers with the exception of maybe Kennedy who died before we had any real idea of what kind of President he would have been. In the case of Israel the only borders that should be discussed are those that existed at the time of the Partition of Palestine. Any land grab since then is illegal, period. The whole idea that the Palestinians should negotiate is a non-starter since all they can possibly negotiate is letting Israel keep their land and controlling their air space and border crossings.
jimed
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