|
World Jewish News
U.S. lawmakers to quiz Netanyahu over Palestinian state
19.05.2009
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ending a three-day trip, is likely to face questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill on his refusal to endorse the cornerstone of international Mideast policy, the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Netanyahu was to meet Tuesday with House and Senate leaders and a group of Jewish lawmakers. He was to lay out his vision of Mideast peacemaking and make his case for strong action against Iran, a day after President Barack Obama said the U.S. would not have talks forever on stopping the Iranian nuclear program.
Following Obama's meeting with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, American officials said there was "more work to do" in bridging the gaps between Jerusalem and Washington over the Palestinian question.
Obama told Netanyahu the U.S. will soon present a new peace initiative to include Arab nations alongside Israel and the Palestinian Authority in peace negotiations. The two met at the White House on Monday, including one hour and 45 minutes with no one else present.
The official said that Israel and the U.S. see eye-to-eye on the need to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, yet Netanyahu's hesitancy to support a two-state solution and to take steps in curbing Israel's settlement activity remain a bone of contention between the premier and Obama.
Contacts between Israeli and U.S. officials will continue in the coming weeks. Administration officials expect to hear from their Israeli counterparts what steps they are ready to take that will bring about a freeze in settlement construction and the removal of West Bank outposts.
The U.S. is eager to hear Israel's proposals before Obama's speech he is to deliver in Cairo on June 4. Washington attaches great importance to Israeli concessions on settlements as a confidence-building measure that will facilitate normalization of relations between Jerusalem and the Arab world.
During Monday's meeting at the White House, Obama pressed for a two-state solution to the Mideast conflict, but failed to win a public commitment from Netanyahu on Palestinian statehood.
In their first White House talks, Obama also urged Netanyahu to freeze construction of settlements, but sought to reassure Israelis wary about his overtures to Iran, saying he would not wait indefinitely for diplomatic progress on curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
As part of its anticipated new peace initiative, the U.S. administration will encourage Arab states to take steps to normalize their relations with Israel immediately and not wait to the end of the peace process, as the Arab peace initiative proposes. After the meeting, the two leaders were joined by aides for lunch and further meetings for four hours.
"It is in the interests not only of the Palestinians but also the Israelis, the United States and the international community to achieve a two-state solution," Obama told reporters with Netanyahu sitting beside him in the Oval Office.
Netanyahu reiterated that he supported self-government for the Palestinians but made no mention of a state.
"We don't want to govern the Palestinians. We want them to govern themselves," Netanyahu said, echoing earlier statements.
Obama sees engagement in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking - in contrast to the Bush administration's largely hands-off approach - as crucial to repairing the U.S. image in the Muslim world and convincing moderate Arab states to join a united front against Iran.
There have been signs Obama hopes to sway Netanyahu with the prospect of normalized ties between Israel and all Muslim countries, but such a deal would require extraordinary diplomatic work by the United States.
With Israeli leaders mostly skeptical of Obama's efforts to engage Iran diplomatically, Netanyahu had planned to stress Israel's growing concerns about Tehran's nuclear program. Israel has not ruled out military strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Obama set a rough timetable for his diplomatic outreach to Iran for the first time on Monday. "The important thing is to make sure there is a clear timetable," he said. "By the end of the year we should have some sense whether or not these discussions [involving Iran] are starting to yield significant benefits."
Obama also said he was not closing off a "range of steps" against Iran, including sanctions, if it continues its nuclear program, which Washington believes is aimed at producing an atomic weapon but Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.
He also held out the prospect of tougher sanctions against Tehran "to ensure that Iran understands we are serious."
Obama stressed that attempts by the Bush administration to isolate Iran had failed, "so what we are going to try to do is do something different."
He said he hoped to begin negotiations with Tehran soon, after Iran holds elections next month. Iran's leaders have so far rebuffed his efforts to reach out to them and toughened their rhetoric.
Obama said both Israel and the Palestinians would have to meet their obligations under the 2003 U.S.-sponsored Middle East road map.
The plan, widely ignored by both sides, calls on Israel to halt settlement expansion and for the Palestinians to rein in militants.
Despite diverging views, Obama and Netanyahu appeared to have avoided any fireworks.
After a joint statement, Netanyahu spoke to Israeli reporters at the president's guesthouse at Blair House, saying that "it was a good meeting, friendly. There was a deep commitment to relations with the U.S., with whom we have a special relationship."
"Another thing was Iran, a topic that consumed most of our private one-on-one meeting. It was clear that he [Obama] understands the extent of the problem, for the world as well as for us, and he is committed to preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons."
He added that "in regard to the settlements, we decided that this is something that needs to be implemented through commitments on both sides. Israel has dismantled settlements and the Palestinians were supposed to dismantle terror infrastructure. In Gaza, we dismantled settlements and got a huge terror infrastructure in return."
When asked whether he plans to arrange a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas soon, Netanyahu replied that "as far as I'm concerned, let's go, I'm ready."
Later Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during her meeting with Netanyahu, a senior State Department official told Haaretz.
According to the official, a wide range of issues were raised during the 90-minute-long working dinner, which was held in the James Madison Room at the State Department. Among the topics discussed were the Iranian nuclear issue and achieving lasting Middle East peace.
The official said that Clinton's messages were entirely consistent with those of President Obama. Clinton reiterated the administration's support of a two-state solution, and discussed the administration's strategy of direct engagement as a means to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.
Kadima politicians attacked the outcome of the Netanyahu-Obama meeting.
"It's a shame that Israel's biggest expert in understanding American political culture failed when he tried to tempt President Obama with meaningless words, and missed the opportunity to create relations based on trust, just as he is about to miss out on the historic opportunity the president mentioned," said MK Ze'ev Boim.
Abbas aides said Obama's commitment to a two-state solution was encouraging.
"Mr. Netanyahu failed to mention the two-state solution, signed agreements and the commitment to stop settlement activity," said top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "He said he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves. The question to Mr. Netanyahu is, 'How can I govern myself while your occupation continues everywhere in the West Bank and Gaza? And how can I govern myself under your wall, roadblocks and settlement activities?'"
By Barak Ravid, Aluf Benn, Mazal Mualem, Natasha Mozgovaya and Agencies
Источник: Haaretz
|
|
