Netanyahu Gains Time

Benjamin Netanyahu survived his baptism of fire in Washington, but he didn’t necessarily succeed. That’s how the Israeli media characterized Netanyahu’s first meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, stressing their differences of opinion.

The major newspapers led with headlines like “Differences of Opinion” and “They Agreed to Disagree.” In Israeli media interviews, Netanyahu himself concentrated on Iran and stressed the fact that the United States and Israel were largely in agreement on that question. It was clear, however, that Obama rejected a military solution in Iran and would wait until the end of the year to reach some agreement with Iran. Israel had pushed for a shorter timeline.

True to his word, Netanyahu never mentioned the term “Palestinian state” nor did he acknowledge any two-state solution. He later specifically told journalists that he never referred to a Palestinian nation, although that’s one of Obama’s main demands. He also gave reporters no indication that he would stop the building of settlements in the West Bank. Since his inauguration, not only has the construction of such settlements intensified, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that they are absolutely necessary to keep pace with the population growth of the 276,000 people already there. But the volume of construction already exceeds the growth projections among the large families there. Besides that, the government is attempting to legalize outposts in the hope of later getting around clearing them of residents.

In general, however, Netanyahu was careful to suppress any discord between himself and Obama. After the discussions, he stressed Israeli-American friendship, and praised Obama as a “great friend” and a “great world leader.” But the dissonance between the two was hard to miss. Obama sat uncharacteristically stiff in front of the cameras and his facial expression was serious, almost adamant. And Netanyahu, as much as he talked of gratitude and “common goals and threats,” he constantly punctuated his words with a pointed finger, as if he were coaxing Obama. Contrary to speculation in the Israeli press, Michelle Obama didn’t forego her New York cultural program in order to receive Netanyahu’s wife, Sara. On Tuesday, Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with congressional leaders and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The Israeli press regarded the Washington meeting as a breather; things will become more serious on June 4th when Obama gives his eagerly awaited keynote speech to the Islamic world in Cairo. It is feared that it could contain bitter news for Israel. As one European diplomat in Washington asked, “What else new could Obama possibly offer the Islamic-Arab world other than to distance the United States further from Israel?”