May 8, 2009 6:57 PM
- Text
Message Sent By Bibi To Barack
Remember that special relationship between Israel and the United States? You've got to wonder whether it's about to become a little less special.
Less than two weeks before President Obama is scheduled to host Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, public statements from the two allies suggest they have different ideas about the best strategy for peace in the Middle East.
So it was that as Israel got ready to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath on Friday, Netanyahu sent up a smoke signal that the White House should have no trouble deciphering. In a briefing with reporters from Russian-language newspapers, he said that Israel would never withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it took after defeating Syria during the 1967 Six Day War.
"Remaining on the Golan will ensure Israel has a strategic advantage in cases of military conflict with Syria," Netanyahu said, according to several Russian-oriented Israeli Web sites, which published the comments on Friday.
At the same time, Netanyahu offered a likely preview of his talking points for the tete-a-tete with the president.
Iran will be the top focus. Netanyahu referred to that country's nuclear enrichment program as "a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East."
Israel will not be forced into accepting preconditions for negotiating with the Palestinians. He also told the Russian-language outlets that Israel would not present preconditions for negotiating with the Palestinians, either.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
In 1994, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin supposedly passed a message to the Syrians. The gist of the communication was that Israel was willing to execute a full withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders in return for normalized relations between the two countries.
Coming down from the Golan would be a traumatic experience for Israel. Successive Israeli governments have said the area was vital in affording the nation's army strategic depth. At the same time, however, the Syrian government - both under Hafiz Al Assad and now, his son Bashir-has demanded the Golan's full return as the prerequisite for any peace treaty.
All this comes on the heels of recent reports out of Israel where unnamed officials have complained about reduced coordination with the Americans when it comes to security and state affairs since Obama and Netanyahu came to office.
"Obama's people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to," according to the Israeli publication, Haaretz, quoting unnamed officials.
One source quoted by the paper added that the U.S. is more interested to fostering a dialogue with the Arab states and Israel and that the Obama administration does not view Israel as a "special" or "extraordinary" state in the Middle East.
It's perhaps coincidence but Obama's office today announced that the President will deliver his much promised speech to the Arab world on June 4 while he is in Egypt. (The next day, Obama is set to make another speech from the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.)
Also of note: The State Department's top Middle East envoy, Jeffrey Feltman was in Damascus this week where he said the U.S. backed the pursuit of a comprehensive peace-including a deal between Israel and Syria.
Watching the latest turns in the two countries' relationship, the conservative blog Little Green Footballs officially declared `The Breakdown of the 'Special Relationship' while on Commentary's web site, Jonathan Tobin concluded that recent signals from Washington should encourage what he described as "the anti-Israel left."
He also had this to say:
So much for the coming attractions. In less than two weeks, the players will be on center stage.
Less than two weeks before President Obama is scheduled to host Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, public statements from the two allies suggest they have different ideas about the best strategy for peace in the Middle East.
So it was that as Israel got ready to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath on Friday, Netanyahu sent up a smoke signal that the White House should have no trouble deciphering. In a briefing with reporters from Russian-language newspapers, he said that Israel would never withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it took after defeating Syria during the 1967 Six Day War.
"Remaining on the Golan will ensure Israel has a strategic advantage in cases of military conflict with Syria," Netanyahu said, according to several Russian-oriented Israeli Web sites, which published the comments on Friday.
At the same time, Netanyahu offered a likely preview of his talking points for the tete-a-tete with the president.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
In 1994, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin supposedly passed a message to the Syrians. The gist of the communication was that Israel was willing to execute a full withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders in return for normalized relations between the two countries.
Coming down from the Golan would be a traumatic experience for Israel. Successive Israeli governments have said the area was vital in affording the nation's army strategic depth. At the same time, however, the Syrian government - both under Hafiz Al Assad and now, his son Bashir-has demanded the Golan's full return as the prerequisite for any peace treaty.
All this comes on the heels of recent reports out of Israel where unnamed officials have complained about reduced coordination with the Americans when it comes to security and state affairs since Obama and Netanyahu came to office.
"Obama's people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to," according to the Israeli publication, Haaretz, quoting unnamed officials.
One source quoted by the paper added that the U.S. is more interested to fostering a dialogue with the Arab states and Israel and that the Obama administration does not view Israel as a "special" or "extraordinary" state in the Middle East.
It's perhaps coincidence but Obama's office today announced that the President will deliver his much promised speech to the Arab world on June 4 while he is in Egypt. (The next day, Obama is set to make another speech from the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.)
Also of note: The State Department's top Middle East envoy, Jeffrey Feltman was in Damascus this week where he said the U.S. backed the pursuit of a comprehensive peace-including a deal between Israel and Syria.
Watching the latest turns in the two countries' relationship, the conservative blog Little Green Footballs officially declared `The Breakdown of the 'Special Relationship' while on Commentary's web site, Jonathan Tobin concluded that recent signals from Washington should encourage what he described as "the anti-Israel left."
He also had this to say:
"No one should doubt the attraction that the futile quest for a Palestinian state (one that Israel's supporters want more than the Palestinians) holds for the State Department and other Middle East "realists." But it may ultimately be a clever way to continue prevaricating about Iran. Since no one can really believe that either Hamas or the powerless Palestinian Authority are the least bit interested in actually agreeing to a viable two-state solution at this point, what is the point in putting the screws to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about this? If, as recent reports claim, Obama insists on a strategy that makes the quixotic Palestinian track a higher priority than the Iranian issue, he is setting up a scenario that guarantees Tehran will wind up with nuclear weapons."
So much for the coming attractions. In less than two weeks, the players will be on center stage.
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Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.
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