(Jerusalem Post) David Horovitz - This White House meeting will be presented as the latest step in the gradual warming of relations between two leaders who had plainly been at odds. Washington recognizes that Netanyahu's easing of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank has contributed to the dramatic improvement of the economy there. The administration knows that he has honored his settlement moratorium, with no housing starts recorded at West Bank settlements in the first months of this year, and very little new being built even in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem. Moreover, it fully shares Netanyahu's desire to move from the unproductive, indirect "proximity" framework and into direct talks. But the two leaderships still disagree in assessing the peacemaking credentials of the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas. Obama believes Abbas is for real, and Netanyahu does not. The Palestinian public is still being fed regular PA TV broadcasts asserting Palestinian rights to all of Israel.
2010-07-06 08:18:24Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive