Word: netanyahu
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Friday's air strike came shortly after the region watched a tense handshake unfold 5,000 miles away in New York City with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. U.S.-led attempts at jump-starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in recent months have failed, in large part because of Israel's refusal to freeze construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at reconciling rivals Fatah and Hamas have yet to see a breakthrough as well...
While many analysts focused on Tuesday's meeting as an Obama admission of defea on settlements, some were more optimistic. Former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy believes that the Administration's pivot on the issue smartly boxed Netanyahu into a negotiating process the Israeli leader would have preferred to avoid, by turning his own argument against him: if, as Netanyahu insists, settlements should be an issue for negotiation rather than a precondition because their fate will depend on future borders, then why not move straight to final-status negotiations over those borders...
Final-status talks were something Netanyahu had hoped to dodge. Not only does his right-wing coalition government refuse to countenance negotiations over refugees or Jerusalem, but also, the Prime Minister, much of whose political career has been built on resisting the Oslo peace process, has sought to promote incremental improvements in Palestinian life, particularly the economy, over the search for a final two-state agreement. Obama isn't buying it. According to Israeli accounts of Tuesday's meeting, the U.S. President "scolded" Netanyahu and Abbas, declaring "We've had enough talks. We need to end this conflict. There...
...tangible gestures toward normalization of ties with Israel - most analysts are waiting to see what actions back his words. Reports from the talks suggest the Administration will summon the two parties to Washington next month for talks under U.S. auspices on the full gamut of final-status issues. But Netanyahu may have his own ideas and may be buoyed by his success in resisting the settlement-freeze demand. Indeed, the Israeli Prime Minister's domestic popularity has surged as a result of his defiance of Obama. Abbas, however, who had already been reduced to an increasingly marginal figure...
...even the relatively hawkish Israeli commentator Shmuel Rosner warns that "Israel should restrain itself from declaring victory just yet. True, Obama had to draw down his overeager demands from Israel. But it is also true that Netanyahu, not long ago, had to reverse his opposition to a two-state solution and publicly declare that his goal is similar to the one espoused today by Obama. True, Abbas was dragged to the summit only days after insisting that he will not come to any meeting unless settlement construction is frozen first. But it is also true that Netanyahu, the head...