Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Obama And Netanyahu Pretend There is No Rift Between US And Israel

Both Obama and Netanyahu have domestic electoral reasons to smooth things over and pretend there was nothing wrong to begin with. There are also important geopolitical reasons that the relationship should not be discarded or brushed aside that I have written about numerous times. That said, do they really think anyone is going to buy this?

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/107271-obama-and-netanyahu-both-say-talks-of-rift-flat-wrong

"President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked hard Tuesday to dispel reports of a rift between the United States and Israel.

After an Oval Office meeting, Obama and Netanyahu rejected any suggestion of a divide and expressed optimism that Israeli and Palestinian leaders will sit down soon for direct peace talks.
...
Reports of the demise of the special relationship between Israel and the United States “are not just premature, they’re just flat wrong,” said Netanyahu, who formally invited Obama and the first lady to visit Israel, something Obama has been criticized for not doing since taking office.
...
Obama seemed irritated by a question from an Israeli reporter who asked whether the U.S. president was distancing himself from Israel.

“First of all, let me say that the premise of your question is wrong, and I entirely disagree with it,” said Obama, who invited reporters to look at “every public statement” that he and his aides have made since taking office and find one instance of a break or bend in the relationship.

“There aren’t any concrete policies that you could point to that could contradict that,” Obama said.
"

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