Obama: Netanyahu’s stance might lead to a Palestinian state, erode Israel’s credibility

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obama, netanyahuU.S. President Barack Obama said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s terms for diplomacy that might lead to a Palestinian state meant Israel had lost international credibility as a potential peacemaker.

Obama also suggested that continued U.S. diplomatic defense for Israel at the United Nations over the Palestine dispute may be reviewed, while reaffirming U.S. support for Israeli security in a conflict-riven Middle East.

In an interview with Israeli television aired on Tuesday, he offered a bleak outlook for decades of negotiations on Palestinian statehood bearing any fruit during the 18 months he has left in office.

“I don’t see the likelihood of a framework agreement,” Obama said in an interview with Uvda, a current-affairs program produced by Israel’s top-rated Channel Two and Keshet television. “The question is how do we create some building blocks of trust and progress.”

While Obama has acknowledged the geographical and ideological divisions among Palestinians that have bedeviled peace efforts, in the interview — taped in the White House on Friday — he focused on Netanyahu’s policies.

On the eve of his March 17 election to a fourth term, Netanyahu said there would be no Palestinian state if he remained premier. He argued that any withdrawals from occupied territory by Israel would embolden hardline Islamist guerrillas arrayed on its borders.

Netanyahu has since sought to row back from those remarks but his peace overtures have met with scepticism from the Palestinians as well as Western diplomats.

Obama said Netanyahu’s position “has so many caveats, so many conditions that it is not realistic to think that those conditions would be met at any time in the near future.

“So the danger is that Israel as a whole loses credibility. Already, the international community does not believe that Israel is serious about a two-state solution.”

The last round of U.S.-sponsored talks stalled more than a year ago, with Palestinians blaming Israeli settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, among the territories where they seek an independent state.

Obama said now was the time for a re-evaluation of “how we approach defending Israel on the international stage around the Palestinian issue”.

He cited pro-Palestinian resolutions at the United Nations that Washington has long blocked in the name of encouraging direct diplomacy between the sides. Asked whether such U.S. vetoes would continue, Obama sounded circumspect.

“Well, here’s the challenge. If in fact there is no prospect of an actual peace process, if nobody believes there is a peace process, then it becomes more difficult to argue with those who are concerned about settlement construction, those who are concerned about the current situation,” he said.

“It is more difficult for me to say to them, ‘Be patient, wait, because we have a process here.’”

Israelis and Palestinians both, Obama said, should work with the United States to “move off what appears right now to be a hopeless situation and move it back toward a hopeful situation”. He did not offer more concrete solutions.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the Obama interview. Speaking at an Israeli missile defense drill earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu stressed the need for self-sufficiency: “When it comes to Israel’s security, I rely, first of all, on ourselves.”
REUTERS

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17 responses to “Obama: Netanyahu’s stance might lead to a Palestinian state, erode Israel’s credibility”

  1. doron Avatar

    The guy that was wrong in all his predictions delivers another one…yeyyy..

    1. arzatna1 Avatar
      arzatna1

      I Think Obama is right this time.
      Netanyahu ‘s stance the day of the elections will cost Israel dearly .
      The whole world including the U.S. does not trust Netanyahu anymore.
      This should pave the way to a Palestinian state , if the Palestinian leadership unite around this issue , get their act together and play the game like they should .
      I think the days of a Palestinian state that gets Israeli blessings are over .
      Israel has never believed in having a Palestinian state next door

      1. doron Avatar

        it’s not if they trust netanyaho, it’s how much they trust the palistinians that will decide it eventually.
        and i’ll stick with my bet, so far obama did not give me any reason to believe his prediction

        1. It takes two to tango.

          1. doron Avatar

            and palis cant dance better then israel

          2. doron Avatar

            so write mr abas and tell him to start dancing 🙂
            refusing Israeli initiatives while complaining at israel’s lack of will to make peace brought the palis to where they are now, and it only going to get worst

          3. Lol he might slip and break a hip

          4. Fake o

      2. Caribbean Avatar
        Caribbean

        “The whole world including the U.S. does not trust Netanyahu anymore.
        This should pave the way to a Palestinian state”

        The whole world should not trust Jews and the Palestinians will never have a state until they flush Jacob straight down to

        1. Hind Sweetie, The whole world should not trust Shites and the Iranians if peace is what they are after. They need to flush Ass ad, Hezbo, basijs, shite militias, revolutionary guards, Iran’s and Ass ad’s proxy Isis straight down the shit hole they came from along with the devil, Iran.

          1. Hend Abyad Avatar
            Hend Abyad

            Caribean has a discus, he’s not a Guest like you, or
            Wistelblower”, plus dozens of your collection of Gray Guests parasites

          2. Tranny hind to the defense. So do you, so what’s your point shite parasite?
            Busted, yet again. So when you’re planning to delete this Caribbean account kinda like you did with your guest whistleblower one?!
            How many guest accounts you got, lying piece of shite? 😉

          3. Stop your taqqiya. Whistleblower is you and I still have the proof. Lying slag, son of a whore

          4. Fake o
            But I totally agree with the fake

  2. MekensehParty Avatar
    MekensehParty

    Netanyahu stressed the need for self-sufficiency: “When it comes to Israel’s security, I rely, first of all, on ourselves.”
    LOLOLOLOLOL
    Arrogance at its best

    1. Hannibal Avatar
      Hannibal

      The U.S. military aid to Israel is $3.15 billion per year… Israel’s defense budget is around $15 billion. It is unlikely that the Israeli taxpayers are contributing to fill the gap. The other $12 billion non-U.S. aid comes most likely from the diaspora. Therefore in a way he is right about relying on “ourselves”. That being said all the ails that beget them are really self inflicted. They insist on sticking out like a sore thumb… 😉

      1. Hend Abyad Avatar
        Hend Abyad

        Israeli propaganda dominates front page of ‘New York Times’
        “Aided by the Sea, Israel Overcomes an Old Foe: Drought”

        “The fly in the ointment is the that 80% of the water supply comes from Palestine. The Jordan River became desiccated and the Dead Sea…”

        http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/middleeast/water-revolution-in-israel-overcomes-any-threat-of-drought.html?_r=0

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