4 The Jewish Herald • Friday, March 22, 2013 F


R


I


EN D


S


H IP


As Visit Begins, Obama And Netanyahu Are All Smiles J


“As my forefathers planted for me, so will I plant for my children,” said President Obama, quoting the famous Talmudic passage Ben Sales


ERUSALEM — President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin


Netanyahu, it’s safe to say, haven’t always been the best of friends. The leaders of two closely allied countries,


they’ve have had a relationship described more often as tense than anything else. But on the first day of Obama’s first


presidential trip to Israel, the president and prime minister were all smiles, hand- shakes and hugs. Netanyahu couldn’t stop thanking Obama for his support on a range of issues. Obama, for his part, attempted a few sentences in Hebrew, quoted the Tal- mud, and complimented Netanyahu’s wife and children. Obama has been to Israel twice before,


most recently as a presidential candidate in 2008. Rather than signaling the launch of a new push for Israeli-Palestinian ne- gotiations, this trip appeared to be an ef- fort by Obama to win over the hearts and minds of Israelis. “I see this visit as an opportunity to re-


affirm the unbreakable bonds between our nations, to restate America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security,” Obama said upon his arrival. “It makes us both stronger. It makes us both more prosperous. And it makes the world a better place.” Wednesday’s agreeability between Obama


and Netanyahu also extended to policy. The two leaders downplayed any differences on security issues and instead stressed broad U.S.-Israeli consensus on Iran’s nuclear pro- gram, the Syrian civil war and even Israe- li-Palestinian negotiations. Last year, Netanyahu issued a thinly


veiled rebuke of Obama, saying at a news conference that nations that don’t issue red lines on Iran’s nuclear program “don’t have a moral right to place a red light be- fore Israel.” On Wednesday, though, prac- tically the only mention of a red line was a joke the two men made about the red car- pet laid out for Obama during his welcome ceremony.


President Obama and PM Netanyahu at a Jerusalem news conference Wednesday


Did Obama’s Charm Offensive Work? “So long as there is a United States of America, ‘atem lo l’vad


Ben Sales


presidential trip to Israel. He wanted to


J


ERUSALEM — President Oba- ma had three goals for his first


persuade Israelis that the Unit- ed States is committed to prevent- ing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He wanted to promote the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian ne- gotiations, albeit without any spe- cific “deliverables.” Most of all, how- ever, he wanted to charm the pants off the Israeli people. He dropped Hebrew phrases into


his speeches. He quoted the Talmud. He invoked the story of Passover. So, nu, did it work? “Does anyone doubt, still, that


we’re talking about a friend here?” Itzik Shmueli, a Knesset minister


from the center-left Labor party, wrote on Facebook. Obama earned qualified praise


ANALYSIS


even from Naftali Bennett, the pro- settler chairman of the national- ist Jewish Home


party who now serves as minister of commerce and economics. “Obama’s words certainly came


out of concern for Israel and true friendship,” Bennett wrote, also on Facebook. Citing rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Thursday, however, Bennett added, “A Palestinian State isn’t the right way. The time has come for new and creative approaches.” A smiling Obama appeared side-


by-side with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Presi- dent Shimon Peres to talk about C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 8


In a statement following a meet-


ing with the president, Netanyahu praised Obama for his actions on Iran. “You have made it clear that you are de-


termined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. “I appre- ciate your forthright position on this point. I appreciate that you have acted through diplomacy and strong sanctions.” And while Obama said multiple times


of Iran that “we prefer to resolve this dip- lomatically,” he added, “Each country has to make its own decision when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any mil- itary action. I don’t expect that the prime minister will make a decision about his country’s security and defer that to any other country.” The two leaders also found common


ground on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, previously a huge sticking point. In 2009, not long after Obama began his first term — and Netanyahu his second — Obama called for an Israeli freeze on West Bank settlement building. Netanyahu acquiesced partially after initially resisting the call. This time, Obama eschewed a similar


request. “I did not want to come here and make


some big announcement that might not match up with what the realities and pos- sibilities on the ground are,” Obama said. “I want to listen before I talk. It is a hard slog to work through all of these issues.” Netanyahu responded by affirming Is-


rael’s commitment to a two-State solution, even though some prominent members of his new coalition oppose any sort of Pales- tinian State. He said he hopes to resume negotiations soon. “Let me be clear: Israel remains ful-


ly committed to peace and the solution of two States for two peoples,” Netan- yahu said. “We extend our hand in friend- ship and peace to the Palestinian peo- ple.” In his welcome speech, Obama may have aimed to smooth over some hard feelings


C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 8


Obama, He Had Us At ‘Shalom,’ And Then Some More We in Israel so want to be accepted, so want to be understood


Herb Keinon


Obama, on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport. Or if not at “Shalom,” then 33 words


J


later when he said in Hebrew, “Tov lihi- yot shuv ba’aretz” (It’s good to be back in Is- rael). And if not then, well, at least at the end of his brief wel- coming speech, when he said, “I’m con- fident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, it is forever — lanetzach.” Again, he used Hebrew. We swooned. And if he did not have us all, at least


ERUSALEM — He had us at the word “Shalom,” did President Barack


the Messiah? We are a nation that feels isolated — unaccepted and hated in the region, misunderstood abroad. Singer Elvis Costello boycotts us; the


ANALYSIS


he had some of the country’s media stars broadcasting from the airport, gushing superlatives as Air Force One — tracked as if it were an Apollo flight reentering the Earth’s orbit — was seen entering Israeli airspace. As Irit Linor said on Army Radio,


discussing what she deemed the over- the-top Obama Madness that gripped the nation, if this is the way the coun- try greeted Obama, what’s left to greet


Spanish don’t like us much. Yet we so want to be accepted, so want to be un- derstood, so want to be loved. Given our history, who can


blame us? Obama landed and showed us the love. Lots of it. The love we yearned to feel over the past four years, a peri- od during which, at least in the begin- ning, the president seemed to feel that the way to move things forward in the Middle East was not by embracing Jeru- salem, but by keeping it — us — at arm’s length. Yes, even during that “it’s-okay-


to-show-some-daylight-between-the- U.S.-and-Israel” phase of his presiden- cy, Obama continued to provide for our security in an unprecedented manner. But we were not fully, or even mostly, satisfied. Do children just want their parents to post watchmen at the doors


of their house, or buy a great alarm sys- tem as they then go off and play poker with the neighborhood bullies? No, the children want their parents’ warmth, not only their provisions for security. The children need a hug. Some will say this is a sign of Israeli


immaturity — that the country needs to grow up and not yearn so for public displays of affection, that it should just be thrilled at the depth of existing secu- rity ties. But Israel has a strong secu- rity relationship with other countries as well. It wants — needs — more than that from the U.S. What can you do — that’s who we are. Living in a neighborhood, and even


in a world, in which there are those who have not exactly accepted our right or legitimacy to be here, having the most powerful man in the world come and give us a public bear hug is very impor- tant. And Obama gave us that. He gave


it at the airport when he said that the Jewish People “tended the land here,


prayed to G-d here,” and when he said that “the founding of the Jewish State of Israel was a rebirth, a redemption unlike any in history.” He gave it at the President’s Residence when he quoted from the Talmud and said Israel had no better friend in the world than the U.S. We heard those words. Our enemies


heard those words. The American peo- ple heard those words. Then Obama went to the Prime Min-


ister’s Residence for five hours of talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, and the hugs were left outside, and disagree- ments inevitably emerged. But the dis- agreements stayed inside the room. Out- side, he said the U.S. had Israel’s back. And that is a significant difference from when the two leaders first met in the White House four years ago. “What if” questions are never con-


structive, but one cannot help but ask how much frustration, aggravation and anger would have been prevented in both Israel and the U.S. had Obama made this trip, and adopted this approach, at the beginning of his presidency. —Jerusalem Post


Photo Lior Mizrahi/Getty


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42