8/14/2019 Hope Peace Will Prevail on Earth ONCE Again

1/2

Home

Latest News Fears in Israel of cooling US tiesAFP, Jerusalem

The deep differences exposed during Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu's first meeting with US President

Barack Obama on Tuesday have stoked fears in Israel of

cooling ties with its main ally.

"Agreed to disagree," was the headline in the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot a day after the key Washington

talks laid bare the discord on Middle East peacemaking and

Iran.

In the weeks preceding the two leaders' first official

meeting, Israeli newspapers had been filled with alarmist

editorials that warned of a stark change of course in US

policy towards Israel under Obama.

Following the Oval Office encounter, some warned that the

change of tone in Washington boded ill for the special

relationship that Israel has enjoyed with its main backerover the years.

"A new era has begun in relations between Israel and the

United States," said Eytan Gilboa, a political science

professor at Bar-Ilan University.

An editorial in the popular Ynet website wrote: "The

honeymoon that lasted for dozens of years has apparently

reached an end, and now, only now, will the normal life of

the American-Israeli couple get under way."

"Bibi's from Mars, Obama's from Venus," said another

editorial in Ynet.

In comments after their meeting, which included a 90-

minute one-on-one session, Obama repeatedly underlined

Washington's support for the creation of a Palestinian state

and said Israeli settlement activities "have to be stopped."

"There wasn't a single blister that Obama didn't step on,"

wrote Israel's second largest daily, Maariv.

Netanyahu again avoided committing to the two-state

solution or pledging to stop settlement activity, which his

5/19/2009 The Daily Star: Internet Edition Latest

thedailystar.net/latest/updates.php?pid

5/19/2009 9:58:38 PM

Page 1 of 2

8/14/2019 Hope Peace Will Prevail on Earth ONCE Again

2/2

largely right-wing cabinet supports.In contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush, who was

considered extremely sympathetic to Israel, Obama has

vowed to pursue the peace process vigorously and has

assembled a team experienced in the tricky task of

peacemaking in the volatile region.

Obama's background has also set him apart from his

predecessors vis a vis Israel, analysts say. He has adopted

a new approach that could mean a downgrading of sorts to

the Jewish state's privileged position in US policy, they say.

"The new American president does not have a particular

sentiment towards Israel," Gilboa said. "He is defending his

interests and his global approach to the Middle East, which

includes a rapprochement with the Arab world at the

expense of privileged relations with Israel.

"If Netanyahu persists in his positions, there is a potentialrisk of confrontation that will translate into an enormous

price for Israel," he said.

Akiva Eldar, a veteran journalist with the liberal Haaretz

daily, wrote: "I have never seen an official meeting in

Washington that ended with so many differences being

publicly expressed."

Others dismiss the alarmist tone, however, saying that

despite their differences the United States and Israel

remain strategic allies.

"For Israel, the Obama era has nothing to do with that of

his predecessor George W. Bush, but the historical

American-Israeli ties, profound and numerous, cannot be

put into question," said Gerald Steinberg, also a political

science professor at Bar-Ilan University.

"We have to wait for the speech that Obama will give on

June 4 in Cairo on his regional peace approach, but he has

agreed with Netanyahu to admit to their differences in order

to iron them out, and there is no question of pressure on

Israel."

Obama is due to present his regional policy in what has

been billed as a major address to the Muslim world in the

Egyptian capital on June 4.

5/19/2009 The Daily Star: Internet Edition Latest

thedailystar.net/latest/updates.php?pid

5/19/2009 9:58:39 PM

Page 2 of 2