Friendship, Obama-style
On the occasion of the 2014 Israel Conference on Peace, US President Barack Obama calls on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to compromise, but does the United States not bear any responsibility for the negotiation crisis?
“Secretary Kerry and I remain determined to work with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to pursue a two-state solution.” This is the pledge made by US President Barack Obama in an article being published July 8 in the Israeli daily Haaretz.
In the lead article of the special supplement being issued by the newspaper on the occasion of the Israel Conference on Peace, convened by Haaretz in Tel Aviv on the morning of July 8 (in the interest of full disclosure, I serve as director-general of the conference), Obama leaves no doubt as to the essence of that “determination.” The president makes clear that he and Secretary of State John Kerry will get to work and contribute their fair share only when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas themselves show that “the political will exists to recommit to serious negotiations.”
