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Clinton visit may be first move in looming Israel-US spat
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 03 - 03 - 2009


Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met
with Israeli leaders Monday, and almost immediately paved the way for
for a possible spat between the Obama administration and Israel's
likely next prime minister, according to dpa.
Clinton lost no time in emphasizing the US commitment to a
two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained
from endorsing, although he has spoken of Palestinian self-
government.
With Israel being run by a caretaker government while Netanyahu
tries to build a coalition, Clinton's visit was billed as a
"familiarization" trip, and the Secretary of State may find herself
forced to recall the observation of one of her predecessors, Henry
Kissinger, who noted that "Israel has no foreign policy, only
domestic politics."
Her meeting with Netanyahu on Tuesday afternoon is the most
important, on the Israeli side, of her trip. President Shimon Peres'
powers are largely ceremonial, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is leaving
politics, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud
Barak appear destined for the opposition, after refusing Netanyahu's
call to join a unity government.
Netanyahu may be shying away from a two-state commitment out of
genuine ideological belief - he is a known hardliner - or he may be
wary of alienating potential hardline partners in a government he
seems fated to form.
These potential partners, all of whom Netanyahu needs if he is to
form a majority coalition, include parties which reject any form of
Palestinian statehood.
They also champion Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank,
something else which is likely to accelerate another collision with
the Obama administration, which expects Israel to adhere to
commitments to halt all settlement activity.
On both these issues Netanyahu finds himself faced with the choice
of either alienating his potential allies in government, or Israel's
main ally on the world stage.
Clinton herself hinted at possible future tension, telling a news
conference in Jerusalem Tuesday that while the US has "always worked
and supported" the Israeli government and people, that does not mean
that "we might not have opinions that we might express once in a
while."
For Clinton, solving the Israeli-Palestinian impasses - which
defeated her husbands when he was president - is a priority which
will ease Washington's relations with the Muslim world.
Netanyahu however believes that Iranian policies are of more
pressing concern to Israel at the moment.
According to "sources close to Netanyahu" quoted on Israel Radio
Tuesday, the premier-designate intended telling Clinton that before
any steps will be taken on the Palestinian issue, the issue of Iran's
nuclear ambitions must be resolved.
Netanyahu has long warned of the existential dangers to Israel
posed by a nuclear Iran, and has also pointed out that it is Tehran
which is financing and backing the Islamic groups, such as Hamas and
Hezbollah, opposed to any peace treaty with Israel.
But, says analyst Yossi Klein Halevi, writing in The New Republic,
"Netanyahu knows that, in order to effectively confront Iran, Israel
needs a good working relationship with the Obama administration".
And he is unlikely to get it by opposing Washington's way of
settling the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.


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