BARACK Obama says he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to take risks to achieve peace in the Middle East.
Mr Obama expects direct negotiations with the Palestinians to restart in a matter of weeks.
The US President delivered his upbeat assessment yesterday after a meeting with Mr Netanyahu at the White House that was billed as a significant fence-mending exercise in the wake of obvious strains in the relationship.
Gushing in his praise of the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Obama made a point of declaring the bond between their two countries was “unbreakable”, and he dismissed reports of a rift as “wrong”.
He also acknowledged Israel had unique security needs, saying the US would never ask Israel to take any steps that would undermine its security interests.
“Our relationship is continuing to improve, and I think a lot of that has to do with the excellent work that the Prime Minister has done,” Mr Obama said. “So I’m grateful.”
The atmosphere was in marked contrast to the pair’s last meeting at the White House, three months ago. Mr Netanyahu received an icy reception then, with no official photo or media statement.
Mr Obama even left the Israeli Prime Minister alone while he interrupted their talks to have dinner elsewhere in the building.
The White House was clearly upset at the time about the Netanyahu government’s treatment of Vice-President Joe Biden, who had just returned from a visit to Israel that became a diplomatic disaster when authorities announced a new housing project for disputed territory in East Jerusalem.
That Netanyahu rebuff also appears to have reflected the White House’s broader impatience, after doubts the Prime Minister was serious about a peace settlement with the Palestinian leadership.
All those tensions were gone yesterday. Mr Obama said he had an “excellent” tete-a-tete with Mr Netanyahu, including extensive discussion about the prospect for Middle East peace. He commended his guest for progress in allowing more goods through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Declaring his unfailing trust in the Israeli Prime Minister, the President said: “I believe Mr Netanyhu wants peace. I think he’s willing to take risks for peace. And during our conversation, he once again reaffirmed his willingness to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinians.”
He said the time had come to seize on the vision of Palestinians having a sovereign state.
Under questioning from reporters, the President avoided discussing whether or not Israel should extend a partial freeze on settlements in the West Bank past its expiry in September, saying he expected peace negotiations to move from indirect to direct talks before then. His hope was to create “a climate where everybody feels a greater investment in success”.
Mr Netanyahu also dodged a question about whether Israel would continue to build settlements after September, referring instead to concrete steps that could be taken to restart direct negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He said Israelis were prepared to do a lot to win peace with the Palestinians, but only if it were secure. “We don’t want a repeat of the situation where we vacate territories and those are overtaken by Iran’s proxies, and used as a launching ground for terrorist attacks or rocket attacks,” he said.
Israel has held no direct negotiations with the Palestinian leadership since late 2008, when then prime minister Ehud Olmert ended discussions with Mr Abbas, and the Gaza war against Hamas ruled out any hope of talks resuming. Palestinians have argued that direct talks cannot restart if Israel continues with settlements.
Mr Netanyahu borrowed from author Mark Twain yesterday, saying reports of the demise of the special historical US-Israeli relationship “aren’t just premature – they’re just flat wrong”.
He also united with Mr Obama in condemning Iran, rating the prospect of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons as the greatest new security threat on the horizon.
Mr Obama said his policy was unchanged on requiring countries to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. But he appeared to offer a special dispensation to Israel’s “very complex situation in a very tough neighbourhood”, in an oblique reference to Israel’s undeclared possession of nuclear weapons. Israel needed to be able to respond to any threats, he said.
Mr Obama said Israel had shown restraint over the past few months that was conducive to restarting direct talks with the Palestinians. This comment appears to have been directed at Israel’s handling of the West Bank, not the Israeli commando raid on boats trying to break through the Gaza blockade in late May that resulted in the deaths of nine men.
In an embarrassing incident, four guns were believed to have been stolen from Mr Netanyahu’s security detail after American Airlines lost luggage containing the weapons, NBC reported. It said the guns had been mistakenly sent from New York to Los Angeles.
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