While President Obama has received plenty of criticism recently regarding domestic issues, he has also been taken to task on matters of foreign policy, particularly as they pertain to the Middle East and Israel.
In a wide-ranging interview published today in The Atlantic, Israel's opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, praised Obama for the pressure he exerted upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and for America's unseen contribution with regard to pushing Israel closer toward possible negotiations with the Palestinians.
In the interview, Livni (TL), talking about some of the shifts that have happened within the Netanyahu government, attributes those changes to American pressure:
TL: ...the good news is that this current government has a prime minister who was not willing to use the term "two states," and now they are talking in terms of "two states," because they understood that maintaining the status quo with the Palestinians means that there is no status quo with the United States. They understood that there is a price for not negotiating, or for not saying the right words. So this is the brighter perspective.
Q: You just suggested that when Obama pushed Netanyahu, people realized they needed to get a deal. Do you think that American pressure on Netanyahu has been constructive?
TL: When Obama pushed Bibi, Bibi made some steps forward. The American pressure led those who don't believe that time is of the essence to a better understanding that there is no status quo option. For Israelis, when they wake up in the morning and ask themselves, what is the general situation today, the litmus test for them is the health of the relationship between Israel and the United States.
The import of her words cannot be ignored here, for there is much being said between the lines that she did not overtly say.
For when Livni says...
...there is no status quo with the United States...
...what she means is this: Obama and his administration have told Netanyahu that, if the status quo remains regarding Israel's refusal to negotiate with the Palestinians based on 1967 borders, America's support will not remain at its current levels.
Meaning: Obama told Netanyahu (according to Livini's veiled admission) that U.S. support for Israel is not going to remain at its current levels if things do not change. Of course, this could mean any number of things, from changes in diplomatic support to changes in monetary assistance. And of course, such threats could be bluffs. However, it was reported days ago that U.S. officials have recommended ending loan guarantees to Israel at the end of the year.
But the bottom line is this: Livni praised Obama for not only getting tough with Netanyahu behind-the-scenes, but for the effectiveness of Obama's mettle.
She goes on to say...
When Obama pushed Bibi, Bibi made some steps forward. The American pressure led those who don't believe that time is of the essence to a better understanding that there is no status quo option.
Obama has, for the last several months, been trying to increase pressure on Netanyahu to negotiate with the Palestinians on a two-state solution, including recently. The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday:
Earlier this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that his government had been working with the Obama administration, and other members of the Mideast Quartet – the US, UN, Russia and the EU – on a working document for renewed peace talks, and that the coordination with Washington was better than expected.
Such talks (with the massive protests ongoing in the background) may have been responsible for Netanyahu's recent about-face when he declared on Tuesday that he would accept pre-1967 borders as a baseline for future talks with the Palestinians.
+ Nevermind the fact that the Palestinians are not impressed by any of this.
+ Nevermind that the Netanyahu government continues to approve building in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem as all of this goes on.
+ Nevermind that the Obama administration is focused – to my dismay – on rejecting
the Palestinians' bid for a unilateral declaration of statehood in September.
Why do I say nevermind those things? Not because they aren't important, even critical, to what's going to happen between Israel and Palestine.
I say nevermind to them because the point of this diary is that, when Obama exerts pressure on Netanyahu, behind-the-scenes, such pressure is effective. And it's a pressure we don't read about. We don't hear about. We don't know about. Nobody talks about how Obama arm-wrestles Netanyahu away from the cameras.
Now, has Obama exerted enough pressure? Clearly, no. Settlement construction and land acquisition continues. Israeli military incursions into villages such as Nabi Saleh continue. Lawmakers' use of terms such as "Judea and Samaria" continue.
But that is precisely Livni's point: when Obama pressures Netanyahu, it works to an extent. Which is why he must do more as September approaches.
Has time run out for Obama to make a difference, for Obama to get both sides back to the bargaining table before September and the promise of a Palestinian declaration of statehood at the U.N.?
Probably.
But his administration is still trying. And that deserves not only praise, but support.
You can stand with the President for two-states by visiting J-Street.
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