Mitchell invites Netanyahu to meet with Obama
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 | Barak and Mitchell, Sunday Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry |
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| Mitchell invites Netanyahu to meet with Obama US president's special Mideast envoy returns to Israel following prime minister's clarifications and commitments over Jerusalem construction, delivers official White House invitation. Defense Minister Barak says hopes for direct negotiations with Palestinians
Roni Sofer
US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell returned to Israel on Sunday and delivered an official invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington.
| Message to US |
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| PM: Building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv / Roni Sofer |
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Several hours before leaving for Washington, Netanyahu clarifies that his message to American administration will be sharp and clear: 'Our policy on Jerusalem is like the policy in the past 42 years' |
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In light of the slated meeting with Obama, the Prime Minister's Office is considering changing the prime minister's travel plans and foregoing Netanyahu's visit to Belgium, where he was slated to meet with European heads of state, in favor of a round of meetings with senior senators and congressmen.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Vice President Joe Biden, during whose visit to Israel the controversy surrounding the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo erupted. Netanyahu will also meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
On Sunday afternoon, Mitchell met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem. Barak said after the meeting, "I expressed my appreciation of the efforts despite the difficulties, with the support of the Obama administration, for talks which will eventually lead to an agreement for the sake of the entire region."
Mitchell said, "It's a pleasure to be back in Israel again." He stressed that the defense minister was a close friend of the United States and that the relations between the two countries was "strong and enduring".
Meeting at King David Hotel (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry)
According to the envoy, the American commitment to Israel's security is "unshakeable and unbreakable". He said a full range of issues were discussed during the meeting.
"Our shared goal is the resumption of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, in an environment in which they can result in an agreement that ends the conflict and resolves all permanent status issues. We hope to get proximity talks underway in full course, as a means to get to direct negotiations as soon as possible," Mitchell concluded.
The defense minister added, "We are hoping for direct negotiations. We have seen ups and downs over the past few weeks, but I am certain that the American administration will help us overcome all of the obstacles and sit face-to-face in order to reach a comprehensive agreement in the region."
At the end of the defense minister's statement, Mitchell and Barak moved on to a festive lunch at the King David Hotel in the capital.
The price Israel would have to pay following the crisis with the US was reported Saturday. Ahead of Netanyahu's departure to Washington on Sunday evening for an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting in Washington, Israel and the US agreed that the core issues would be included in indirect talks with the Palestinians, construction in east Jerusalem will be delayed and Israel will ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was reached following the diplomatic crisis, which broke out following an a plan to build 1,600 new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, which was announced during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.
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| Haaretz poll: 27% of Israelis think Obama is anti-Semitic |
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| By Yossi Verter |
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Some 27 percent of Israelis believe that U.S. President Barack Obama is anti-Semitic, according to a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted this week.
Another 56 percent questioned said they don't believe politicians who call Obama anti-Semitic or hostile to Israel, nor those who say he is "striving to topple Netanyahu."
On the whole, Obama's popularity may be declining in American public opinion, but a sweeping majority of Israelis think his treatment of this country is friendly and fair.
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The poll, which was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and supervised by Professor Camil Fuchs, comes after reports of a crisis in diplomatic relations due to Israel's announcement during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that it will build 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides said they had hoped the public would rally around him and see him as a victim of overly strict treatment by the Obama administration.
However, there was no significant change in the level of public satisfaction with Netanyahu since the previous poll, conducted six weeks earlier. Respondents' evaluation of his suitability as premier also remained stable.
It appears the public was relatively unfazed by the Israeli and American media frenzy over the diplomatic drama. Perhaps Israelis are too busy cleaning and shopping for Passover or looking for cheap vacations.
The survey indicates that Netanyahu emerged from the crisis unscathed in the eyes of Israeli public opinion, but the continued construction in Jerusalem should cause him some concern.
Nearly half the respondents (48 percent) said Israel must keep building in the capital, even at the expense of a rift with the United States, while 41 percent said Israel must accept the American demand (and Palestinian ultimatum) to stop building in Jerusalem until the end of the negotiations (which haven't begun yet). Netanyahu may conclude that at the moment he may have some room to maneuver, but the balance between supporters and opponents of continued construction could easily shift.
A large majority believes Netanyahu is not deliberately causing a crisis to thwart talks with the Palestinians, as some have argued. A smaller majority does not believe Netanyahu should fire Eli Yishai, whose Interior Ministry announced the construction during Biden's visit. Yishai is not particularly liked by the mainstream, but Israelis aren't that interested in seeing heads roll - or the coalition destabilized - over this incident.
Though the public remained composed in the face of the diplomatic fracas, poll respondents are not thrilled with the prime minister's conduct in the affair.
More people said Netanyahu's behavior was irresponsible than said he acted responsibly. The public seems to be treating Netanyahu harshly; after all, he didn't plan the badly timed announcement and he did apologize several times. So why is he seen as irresponsible nonetheless?
Perhaps the words "Netanyahu" and "conduct" are a disastrous combination for a prime minister who lost power a decade ago because of improper behavior.
His performance in the first year of his current term is not especially encouraging. As soon as people hear those two words in the same sentence, they give Netanyahu an F. No matter that he didn't rant and rave, that he made an effort to soothe the Americans.
The prime minister's aides waited tensely for the weekend newspaper surveys. They believed the public's heart would be with their man, whom they see as the underdog who was scolded though he did no wrong.
The public has not turned its back on Netanyahu, but it hasn't applauded his performance either. Perhaps average Israelis cannot, and do not want to, imagine themselves living in a far worse reality than this - without the warmth and light of an American alliance. |
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