“He has not made an impact on this issue, at all, and he wants to”, said Elliott Abrams, a Middle East adviser to former President George W. Bush, a Republican.
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But with four months left in his White House tenure, Obama has, according to aides, abandoned pursuit of a new peace initiative, although he could yet lay out an American plan for a two-state settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, possibly after the November 8 election to pick his successor, or offer a new U.N. Security Council resolution.
In his United Nations speech on Tuesday, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was barely mentioned.
Hameid told reporters that Israeli security forces, with the support of the Israeli government, have been carrying out an “ethnic cleansing” campaign against unarmed Palestinian citizens, adding that “Israel’s escalation of violence and executions is exacerbating the situation in Hebron to the brink of disaster”. “But Israel must recognize that it can not permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land”.
Israel’s military confirmed 12 Palestinians had been arrested overnight in various parts of the West Bank, including four accused of being Hamas operatives and others suspected of unspecified illegal activity.
Despite their well known disagreement on the best outcome, their meeting was very cordial, with Netanyahu even telling Obama he is always a “welcome guest” in Israel. But Israel’s defence ministry claimed she refused to stop at a checkpoint near the Israeli settlement of Alfei Menashe and the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank. They say a relative of the girl was killed in the same place a year ago while allegedly trying to stab soldiers.
“It is important the USA and Israel find common ground in advancing the Palestinian issue even if the leadership between the parties on the ground makes it unlikely it will be solved soon”, said David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. There are today some 350,000 “settlers” in the West Bank, Palestinians say, along with 200,000 in east Jerusalem.
Obama said there are “profound us concerns about the corrosive effect that settlement activity, that is continuing when the occupation enters its 50th year, is having on the prospects” for peace. The crux of Obama’s speech was that the worldwide community had to meet challenges through cooperation instead of escalation, The Times of Israel reports. “It would encourage other states to recognize Palestine as a state”.
Netanyahu, who has had a rocky relationship with Obama, said he appreciated their many talks about challenges facing Israel. He could issue a set of “parameters”, similar to those laid out by President Clinton in 2000.
Senior U.S. officials said the idea of Mr. Obama putting forward a framework wasn’t discussed in depth by the two leaders.
“I wouldn’t rule out the president taking any particular step”, Rhodes said.
Although this deal might not be everything the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu wanted, it will still receive more money than it has before.
France hosted an global meeting in Paris in June but the Israeli and Palestinian leaders were not invited.
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Wednesday’s encounter was the 17th between the prime minister and Obama since they both came to power in 2009.
