Obama’s Speech on the Middle East Seen as a Challenge to Netanyahu

The American President Barak Obama launched a challenge to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, with his call to establish a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, just before their meeting on Friday in Washington, the Israeli media pointed out. According to an article entitled “Confrontation” in the daily Yediot Aharanot, the American president’s speech is exactly “what Netanyahu did not want to hear.”

The large circulation newspaper relays “the shock in Netanyahu’s entourage and their vehement reaction to the speech,” given by Obama which took them by surprise. In a response to the harsh tone of the president’s speech, Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out “any return to the lines of 1967,” meaning before Israel conquered the West Bank, the Gaza strip and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War (in June 1967).

“Netanyahu’s visit to Washington has started badly. He will be coolly received by the White House, even while being applauded by both sides of Congress and by the delegates of AIPAC,” the powerful pro-Israel lobby, Yediot Aharonot points out. Mr. Netanyahu must speak before AIPAC on May 22 before speaking to Congress on May 24.

A Crushing Blow

The Israeli daily newspaer Maariv also had on its front page the Netanyahu-Obama “confrontation,” estimating that the Israeli prime minister “will not rest until he prevents Obama’s reelection,” in making a play of his support to the United States. “The speech has fallen on Netanyahu’s head like a crushing blow,” asserts the paper’s editorialist, Ben Caspit. He speaks of “an ambush organized in advance” by Washington and “revenge” taken by Obama against the head of the Israeli government, where it is notoriously known that they do not have a good relationship, after “two years of diplomatic stagnation.”

Israeli daily Hayom, close to the government, took note of “the disappointment caused by the speech” in the prime minister’s entourage and quoted Tzipi Hotovely, a member of the rightist Likud party, who described Obama’s speech as the “quintessence of hypocrisy.”

The English language Jerusalem Post (pro-government) assured its readers that the “prime minister was indignant to be leaving for Washington.” On the left, Haaretz declared the U.S. president’s speech “historic” and accused Netanyahu of “never missing an occasion to miss an occasion,” repeating a criticism regularly used by Israel to rebuke the Palestine leadership. Certain commentators, however, believe that Obama offered nothing concrete to the Palestinians.