WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama yesterday pressed a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict but failed to win a public commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Palestinian statehood.
In their first White House talks, Obama also urged Netanyahu to freeze Jewish settlement building but sought to reassure Israelis wary about his overtures to Iran that he would not wait indefinitely for diplomatic progress toward curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The two leaders tried to paper over their differences as Obama waded into the thicket of Middle East diplomacy four months after taking office, but the divisions were hard to ignore between Israel and its superpower ally.
“It is in the interests not only of the Palestinians but also the Israelis, the United States and the international community to achieve a two-state solution,” Obama told reporters with Netanyahu sitting beside him.
Netanyahu, who heads a new right-leaning government, reiterated that he supported self-government for the Palestinians but made no mention of a state, a position underscoring a rare rift in US-Israeli relations.
“We don’t want to govern the Palestinians. We want them to govern themselves,” Netanyahu said, echoing his offer to restart peace talks with the Palestinians on issues other than thorny territorial matters.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, lauded Obama’s commitment to a two-state solution, the cornerstone of US Middle East policy, but said Netanyahu’s words were “disappointing.”
Obama sees engagement in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking as crucial to repairing America’s image in the Muslim world and convincing moderate Arab states to join a united front against Iran.
After two hours of talks, Obama offered no new remedies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has defied efforts by successive US administrations. He has yet to formulate a detailed Middle East strategy.
There have been signs, however, that Obama hopes to sway Netanyahu with the prospect of normalized ties between Israel and all Muslim countries, a comprehensive deal would require extraordinary diplomatic work by the United States.
With Israeli leaders mostly skeptical of Obama’s efforts to engage Iran diplomatically, Netanyahu stressed Israel’s concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme. Israel, which has not ruled out military strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails, had urged a deadline for moving to tougher actions.
In response, Obama set a rough timetable for his diplomatic outreach to Iran for the first time. “By the end of the year we should have some sense … whether we are starting to see serious movement on the part of Iranians,” he said.
Obama also said he was not closing off a “range of steps” against Iran, including sanctions, if it continues its nuclear programme, which Washington believes is aimed at producing an atomic weapon but Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.
If Netanyahu remains resistant to talks with the Palestinians on tough issues such as borders and settlements, it could cause friction in US-Israeli relations.
Obama said both Israel and the Palestinians would have to meet their obligations under the 2003 US-sponsored Middle East roadmap.
The plan calls on Israel to halt settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and for the Palestinians to rein in militants.
“Settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward,” Obama told Netanyahu.
The Palestinians say settlements, which the World Court has deemed illegal, could deny them a viable state on land Israel captured in the 1967 war.
Despite diverging views, Obama and Netanyahu chatted amiably as reporters filed into the room, but became more businesslike when they started speaking. It was a contrast to the chumminess President George W. Bush, often showed to visiting Israeli leaders.
They had been expected to tread carefully in talks seen as helping set the tone for a US-led peace effort. With his strategy still in the formative stage, Obama seemed in no position to push Netanyahu too hard for concessions to a Palestinian leadership weakened by internal divisions.
Netanyahu can ill afford the perception at home that he is alienating Israel’s chief ally. Neither can he be seen giving up too much if he wants to keep the right-wing core of his coalition intact.
