A First: Israel Speaks PubliclyAgainst Plans of U.S. President

On Thursday, Barack Obama will host a meeting with the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Mahmoud Abbas. Israel helped to make this meeting scandalous to the maximum, when it decided to prove to the whole world that Israel can disagree, fundamentally, with the president of the United States.

Until yesterday’s events related to a Middle East settlement, it was the calm before the storm. There were few specifics, even fewer decisions and negotiations, much non-public diplomacy and many guesses and rumors. In short, this is what had been going on the “front” of international politics for the last month.

Barack Obama created the first mini-sensation in early May, when he openly supported the Arab peace initiative. For the past few years, it remained on the shelves of many offices, because there are few who believe in the viability of the “peace for land” program. Then, the resident of the White House gave it a second life. Almost immediately, it became the leading topic of discussion.

And then, on May 11, under Russia’s initiative, the Security Council was convened to discuss the situation in the Near East. And again, it was a sensation of a sort. The members of the Security Council harmoniously supported the proposal presented by Russian diplomats, who sent Israel a clear message: “Palestinian-Israeli negotiations must be renewed. With this, both sides should not start from a clean page, but rather take into consideration all previously reached arrangements.”

This occurred before the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, on May 19. However, that’s when the first alarm sounded. The premier agreed that negotiations with the Palestinians need to start as soon as possible. However, he made it clear that the previously-reached arrangements were not satisfactory.

At the same time, preparations for the Moscow International Conference on the Near East were being made. According to Russian diplomats – and here they have support of their Western colleagues – agreements on the Middle East cannot be reached without decisions regarding the Lebanese-Syrian border. To clear up that situation, Sergei lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, flew to visit Damascus and Beirut from May 23 to May 25. In addition to meeting with the Syrian government, the minister also met with leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS).

The experts are “planning” the storm for June 4, when the president of the U.S. will fly to Cairo. The meeting with Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, will go smoothly. However, President Obama’s agenda includes one dangerously explosive point: specifically, a very important speech dedicated to American relations with the Muslim world. It is not likely that anyone can predict the reaction of the Muslim world to the words of the American leader.

However, the Israeli premier clearly decided to take the hit, taking away from Obama all the “laurels” of being the disturber of Muslim peace. For this, he chose a specific day, when Mahmoud Abbas was a guest at the White House. Recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called, once again, for Israel to stop building settlements on the West Bank, and for demolition of more than 20 of the so-called illegal posts, created since March of 2001, as established by the “road map” – the international plan under girding Israel-Palestine regulations. The Israeli government promised to “dismantle these without delay” back in 2003. The West Bank, occupied by Israelis during the War of 1967, contains 121 Jewish settlements, which are home to about 260 thousand people. At this point, Clinton recalled that Obama, during his recent meeting with Netanyahu, “very clearly” conveyed that Israeli population of the West Bank needs to stop. “No settlements, no checkpoints. We think that is in our best communal interests to stop the settlement expansion,” explained the Secretary of State.

Israel could have silently waited for the results of the meeting between Obama and Abbas. Only not this time, thought Netanyahu, and decided to “fire the first shot.” Only hours before the beginning of the American-Palestinian meeting, the press-secretary of the prime minister, Mark Regev, announced that, despite American calls for the curtailment of all settlement activity, Israel will continue to support the building of Jewish settlements on the West Bank. The statement also said that the settlements’ destiny will be decided within the framework of peaceful negotiations, and until this framework is established, the settlers must be presented with an opportunity to “continue living normal lives.”

One thing is obvious: The Palestinians have developed an allergy to any statements made by the Israeli politicians in which the word, “must”, is used. And there is this question: What exactly is the Israeli Premier trying to achieve by openly opposing the master of the White House?