Hillary Clinton just landed in Israel and the Israeli press is already pessimistic about what she'll think about the state of Israeli politics. From the YNet article "Official: Rightist government may hurt US-Israel relations":
"Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's views on the Mideast peace process and the narrow right-wing government he is about to establish will undoubtedly harm Israel's relations with the US," a senior political official told Ynet Monday night shortly after Hillary Clinton landed at Ben-Gurion Airport to begin her first visit to Israel and the West Bank as US secretary of state.
"If Clinton did not realize that the process launched at Annapolis was dead before her current trip to the Middle East, she will be made aware of this during her talks with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials," the source said. . .
"Netanyahu will make it clear to Clinton
that in the framework of a final agreement he will be opposed to any
alliance between the Palestinians and Iran and will object to the
formation of a Palestinian army," a senior aide said. "He will tell her
that while he does not favor diplomatic stalemate, he will not commit
to the Annapolis process and the two-state principle."
Just to be clear: Hamas, who the the US refuses to even give rebuilding materials to, supports the two-state solution more than the incoming Israeli prime minister.
In an interview this past weekend in preparation for her trip Clinton said:
"We are still committed to a two-state
solution. I will also be visiting with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah
to consult with them," she said."We want to strengthen a Palestinian partner willing to accept the conditions outlined by the Quartet and the Arab summit."
I think she may be worried about the wrong side.
