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Obama Draws the Line, Short of Israel's

With President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu both addressing AIPAC this week in Washington, it is already clear that US and Israeli policies on Iran will continue diverge in key respects. Al-Monitor Washington correspondent Barbara Slavin talks to veteran peace negotiators about what's next.
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) President Lee Rosenberg after delivering remarks at the AIPAC's annual policy conference in Washington March 4, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

US President Barack Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington  Sunday the he would use “all elements of American power” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon[1].

But his emphasis on diplomacy rather than war – and his refusal, at least in public, to define a red line short of an actual bomb -- suggests that U.S. and Israeli policies on Iran continue to diverge in important respects.

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