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Fears in Israel of cooling US ties

AFP, Jerusalem

The deep differences exposed during Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu's first meeting with US President
Barac k Obama on Tuesday have stoked fears in Israel of
cooling ties with its main ally.

"Agreed to disagree," was the headline in the mass-

circ ulation Yediot Aharonot a day after the key Washington
talks laid bare the disc ord on Middle East peac emaking and
Iran.

In the weeks prec eding the two leaders' first official

meeting, Israeli newspapers had been filled with alarmist
editorials that warned of a stark change of c ourse in US
polic y towards Israel under Obama.

Following the Oval Offic e encounter, some warned that the

change of tone in Washington boded ill for the special
relationship that Israel has enjoyed with its main bac ker
over the years.

"A new era has begun in relations between Israel and the
United States," said Eytan Gilboa, a political sc ienc e
professor at Bar-Ilan University.

An editorial in the popular Ynet website wrote: "The

honeymoon that lasted for dozens of years has apparently
reached an end, and now, only now, will the normal life of
the American-Israeli couple get under way."

"Bibi's from Mars, Obama's from Venus," said another

editorial in Ynet.

In comments after their meeting, which inc luded a 90-

minute one-on-one session, Obama repeatedly underlined
Washington's support for the c reation of a Palestinian state
and said Israeli settlement ac tivities "have to be stopped."

"There wasn't a single blister that Obama didn't step on,"

wrote Israel's sec ond largest daily, Maariv.

Netanyahu again avoided c ommitting to the two- state

solution or pledging to stop settlement activity, whic h his

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5/19/2009 The Daily Star: Internet Edition Latest …

largely right-wing cabinet supports.

In contrast to his predec essor George W. Bush, who was

considered extremely sympathetic to Israel, Obama has
vowed to pursue the peac e proc ess vigorously and has
assembled a team experienc ed in the tric ky task of
peacemaking in the volatile region.

Obama's bac kground has also set him apart from his
predec essors vis a vis Israel, analysts say. He has adopted
a new approach that could mean a downgrading of sorts to
the Jewish state's privileged position in US policy, they say.

"The new Americ an president does not have a partic ular

sentiment towards Israel," Gilboa said. "He is defending his
interests and his global approac h to the Middle East, whic h
inc ludes a rapproc hement with the Arab world at the
expense of privileged relations with Israel.

"If Netanyahu persists in his positions, there is a potential

risk of confrontation that will translate into an enormous
pric e for Israel," he said.

Akiva Eldar, a veteran journalist with the liberal Haaretz

daily, wrote: "I have never seen an official meeting in
Washington that ended with so many differences being
publicly expressed."

Others dismiss the alarmist tone, however, saying that

despite their differences the United States and Israel
remain strategic allies.

"For Israel, the Obama era has nothing to do with that of

his predecessor George W. Bush, but the historic al
American-Israeli ties, profound and numerous, c annot be
put into question," said Gerald Steinberg, also a politic al
sc ienc e professor at Bar- Ilan University.

"We have to wait for the speech that Obama will give on
June 4 in Cairo on his regional peac e approac h, but he has
agreed with Netanyahu to admit to their differenc es in order
to iron them out, and there is no question of pressure on
Israel."

Obama is due to present his regional polic y in what has

been billed as a major address to the Muslim world in the
Egyptian c apital on June 4.

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