Juan Cole agrees that Obama and Netanyahu seemed uncomfortable with one another after their meeting; and that they fundamentally disagreed. And he makes this fine point about the new Palestinians-must-recognize-Israel-as-a-Jewish-state demand that has come into the Israel’s talking points: Netanyahu…
Here is Jeff Blankfort’s shrewd analysis of what he calls Bambi-Bibi: Obama’s statement on freezing the settlements was weak in the extreme, and by failing to mention the historic US opposition to settlements and Israel’s ignoring of the US position,…
Bernard Avishai on TPM: OBAMA, PRESUMABLY, WILL be too polite to ask Netanyahu: “What kind of Jewish state?” But perhaps his people could later put the question to Uzi Arad, the other Israeli official in the room, [who has an…
Richard Silverstein says: I just signed a pledge of support for President Obama to act decisively and boldly to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The President needs grassroots backing in order to go the whole nine yards for peace. There…
Richard Silverstein says: I just signed a pledge of support for President Obama to act decisively and boldly to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The President needs grassroots backing in order to go the whole nine yards for peace. There…
Reuters got the story; it’s all about Obama insisting on the two-state solution. Huffpo got this. So did French TV. So did the Washington Post. But The New York Times blew the story. “OBama Tells Netanyahu He Has an Iran…
I restlessly hunt the planet for people who agree with me; do you? Tonight NBC White House reporter Savannah Guthrie emphasized what I did about the Obama-Netanyahu meeting–tension. Also, I listened in to a conference call the Israel Policy Forum…
Earlier today we mentioned Netanyahu’s three adlibbed conditions for Palestinian self-government. From the transcript of his press conference: “If, however, the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, if they — if they fight terror, they educate their children for…
Lots more to come on the Obama/Netanyahu meeting. Here is a transcript, here is a video, now for some more initial impressions. One moment that stood out was Netanyau’s answer to the direct question whether he supports the two-state solution….