Word: netanyahu
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...choice for a gift. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the White House carrying a book for President Barack Obama, an edition of the American humorist Mark Twain's travels to the Holy Land. Twain didn't like the place much; he wrote rudely about the Arabs and thought the Jews should not have their own nation. Was it a warning from Netanyahu, and if so, what was he saying? Not many laughs in the Middle East? It's not the place you think it is? Stay away...
...Netanyahu wants Iran to be as much on President Barack Obama's mind as it is on his. On May 18, when the Israeli leader pays his first visit to the Obama White House, he will seek a pledge that the U.S. will do everything in its power--diplomatically, economically and perhaps militarily--to stop Iran from building nukes. Otherwise, Netanyahu is expected to drop the hint that Israel will take out Iran's nuclear installations by itself, regardless of the shock waves that would send through the world. A poll by Bar-Ilan University showed that 66% of Israelis...
That sort of doomsday rhetoric won't necessarily go down well with the White House. Iran's intentions worry the U.S. too, of course, but Obama and his advisers are expected to move briskly to an equally pressing matter: Netanyahu's refusal to back the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the keystone of U.S. policy in the Middle East, and Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are demanding that Netanyahu sign on. Netanyahu has hinted that he does not oppose the creation...
...Netanyahu knows the U.S. well. His father taught Jewish history at Cornell University, and the Prime Minister graduated from MIT. His advisers say he has a weather eye for the mood in Washington and knows it is not as sunny as it used to be. Israeli officials have gauged that while Netanyahu can count on support from the Obama Administration and Congress, "it's no longer infinite," says an official at a pro-Israeli lobby in Washington. Obama is not George W. Bush, who backed Israel's wars in Lebanon and Gaza and rarely complained about the expansion of Jewish...
...meantime, Israel is upping the ante. In the lead-up to Netanyahu's Washington visit, Israeli newspapers have printed stories about the air force carrying out dry runs for an Iranian raid and antimissile crews having practice drills. If nothing else, this drum-banging may help Obama bring pressure to bear on Iran. Will Israelis then stop worrying? Nope. If you lived where they do, you'd worry...