Israel Faces a Hard Sell in Bid to Shift Policy

New York Times ^ | May 3, 2009 | Ethan Bronner

[reaganaut1]

JERUSALEM — The new government of Israel is seeking to reorient the country’s foreign policy, arguing that to rely purely on the formulas of trading land for peace and promising a Palestinian state fails to grasp what it views as the deeper issues: Muslim rejection of a Jewish state and the rising hegemonic appetite of Iran.

Advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are drafting policy suggestions aimed at forming a framework that he plans to present to President Obama at their first summit meeting, in Washington on May 18. In addition, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman left Sunday for Europe on his first official visit, and on Tuesday, President Shimon Peres is to meet with Mr. Obama in Washington.

Such an ambitious effort to reformulate the conflict will be, by all accounts, tough to sell for two reasons.

First, even though the standard approaches have not yielded success, no alternative has emerged.

Second, the Obama administration has repeatedly backed the two-state solution, as have the Europeans. In other ways, too, this White House has seemed to be closer in outlook to Europe than the past administration was.

Israel’s effort to switch the discussion to Iran is likely to be met in Washington and in European capitals with the assertion that it is precisely because of the need to build an alliance to confront Iran that Israel must move ahead vigorously with the Palestinians as well as with the Syrians.

...

A senior Israeli official, who also would speak only if not named because Israeli policy was being formed, said he believed that when Mr. Netanyahu met Mr. Obama, he would acknowledge that ultimately the goal was a Palestinian state.

[reaganaut1]

I'm glad the Israelis are facing reality, since they can afford to ignore it even less than we can.

[HardStarboard]

Facing reality should not include acquiescing in the creation of a terrorist state dedicated to your demise out of land you currently control.

Anyone that thinks Bibi will pay more than lip service to that idea in an attempt to figure out what Obama’s real agenda is is fooling themselves.

My hope is that Netanyahu will, in the upcoming meeting, give the upstart neophyte Obama a lesson in “realpolitic”.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

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[SunkenCiv]

The new government of Israel is seeking to reorient the country's foreign policy, arguing that to rely purely on the formulas of trading land for peace and promising a Palestinian state fails to grasp what it views as the deeper issues: Muslim rejection of a Jewish state and the rising hegemonic appetite of Iran.