Washington — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't expecting an Oval Office tête-à-tête over dinner with Barack Obama today.
The U.S. President was supposed to be in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and Mr. Obama's childhood home. But Mr. Obama scrapped the trip at the last minute to spend the weekend arm-twisting the last few votes needed to pass his health-care reforms.
With Israel-U.S. relations rocked by the diplomatic dust-up that marred Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Israel this month, the hastily added White House stop after Mr. Netanyahu's long-scheduled speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was an unexpected chance to mend fences.
"The President looks forward to having a good conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu,'' said Mr. Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs. But the bruises are still fresh. "We'll see where we go from there,'' Mr. Gibbs added.
Mr. Netanyahu has already apologized for the timing - but not the substance - of the announcement during Mr. Biden's visit that Israel intends to build 1,600 dwellings for Israelis in east Jerusalem.
Asked if Mr. Obama expected a further apology from Mr. Netanyahu, the White House made it clear it did. "I have no doubt that that will be a topic in the meeting,'' Mr. Gibbs said.
Relations between Israel and its prime weapons supplier and most powerful ally have rarely been worse.
This will be the second time that Mr. Netanyahu gets the Dalai Lama treatment in Washington - meaning no cameras, no joint statement and none of the ceremonial trappings that usually accompany a White House visit.
Even before the brouhaha during Mr. Biden's visit, relations between the United States and Israeli leaders were chilly. Some right-wing Israeli politicians have suggested Mr. Obama is the least pro-Israel President in decades. Mr. Netanyahu's brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi, made things worse last week by calling Mr. Obama "an anti-Semitic President.''
Mr. Netanyahu quickly rejected the comment, but it nonetheless illustrates the depth of the animosity between Israeli right-wingers and the U.S. President. Mr. Netanyahu, meanwhile, hasn't budged on the issue of building new homes for Jews on land regarded by Washington and the rest of the international community as occupied territory.
"As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv," Mr. Netanyahu said before flying to Washington. Israel annexed east Jerusalem after seizing it in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Speaking to AIPAC yesterday, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said: "New construction in east Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need."
Israel's refusal to stop expanding settlements, she added, undermines Washington's role as mediator.
Their uneasy relationship notwithstanding, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Obama know they need to patch up their differences, even if prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace remain distant. Other, more pressing, matters demand their attention.
Mr. Obama is trying to drum up support for a new round of sanctions aimed at discouraging Iran from developing nuclear weapons, a prospect Mr. Netanyahu regards as an existential threat.
"The whole flap [over settlements] is a distraction from the most urgent task, which is to stop Iran from going nuclear,'' Daniel Senor, adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations said in a posted panel discussion. "The greatest danger - and opportunity - for peace hangs upon the confrontation between Iran and the West.''
"The President looks forward to having a good conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu,'' said Mr. Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs. But the bruises are still fresh. "We'll see where we go from there,'' Mr. Gibbs added.
Mr. Netanyahu has already apologized for the timing - but not the substance - of the announcement during Mr. Biden's visit that Israel intends to build 1,600 dwellings for Israelis in east Jerusalem.
Asked if Mr. Obama expected a further apology from Mr. Netanyahu, the White House made it clear it did. "I have no doubt that that will be a topic in the meeting,'' Mr. Gibbs said.
Relations between Israel and its prime weapons supplier and most powerful ally have rarely been worse.
This will be the second time that Mr. Netanyahu gets the Dalai Lama treatment in Washington - meaning no cameras, no joint statement and none of the ceremonial trappings that usually accompany a White House visit.
Even before the brouhaha during Mr. Biden's visit, relations between the United States and Israeli leaders were chilly. Some right-wing Israeli politicians have suggested Mr. Obama is the least pro-Israel President in decades. Mr. Netanyahu's brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi, made things worse last week by calling Mr. Obama "an anti-Semitic President.''
Mr. Netanyahu quickly rejected the comment, but it nonetheless illustrates the depth of the animosity between Israeli right-wingers and the U.S. President. Mr. Netanyahu, meanwhile, hasn't budged on the issue of building new homes for Jews on land regarded by Washington and the rest of the international community as occupied territory.
"As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv," Mr. Netanyahu said before flying to Washington. Israel annexed east Jerusalem after seizing it in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Speaking to AIPAC yesterday, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said: "New construction in east Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need."
Israel's refusal to stop expanding settlements, she added, undermines Washington's role as mediator.
Their uneasy relationship notwithstanding, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Obama know they need to patch up their differences, even if prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace remain distant. Other, more pressing, matters demand their attention.
Mr. Obama is trying to drum up support for a new round of sanctions aimed at discouraging Iran from developing nuclear weapons, a prospect Mr. Netanyahu regards as an existential threat.
"The whole flap [over settlements] is a distraction from the most urgent task, which is to stop Iran from going nuclear,'' Daniel Senor, adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations said in a posted panel discussion. "The greatest danger - and opportunity - for peace hangs upon the confrontation between Iran and the West.''
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