Obama will stand by Israeli security and pursuit of lasting peace

End Of Days News

Provocations will only further isolate North Korea, said US President Barack Obama early Wednesday in his State of the Union speech, which was devoted mainly to domestic US affairs.

 

Likewise, he added, Iran must recognize that “now is the time for a diplomatic solution and we will do what is necessary to prevent them getting a nuclear weapon.”

In a radio interview Wednesday, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro, asked if the US president would urge Israel not to attack Iran in his coming visit, replied, ”Our full coordination on the military, intelligence and government levels will continue as before for the purpose of preventing a nuclear Iran – if possible by diplomacy, if not by any means on the table.”

Regarding that visit, the US president said the messages he would deliver were: “We’ll keep the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people and support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every Syria. And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a lasting peace.” In Egypt, he said, “we can and will insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people.”

On the US economy, Obama stressed “our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing.”

 

http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/3688/

US president and Israeli prime minister have never been as deeply at odds and for so long, says former top US diplomat

The relationship between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “the most dysfunctional” ever between an American president and an Israeli prime minister, a veteran former American diplomat said Thursday.

Aaron David Miller, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center who served under six secretaries of state in both Republican and Democratic administrations, added that while there had been strained personal relationships between the two countries top leaders’ in the past, this breakdown was unique in that it had not been corrected in four years, and would now likely be extended with Obama’s re-election and Netanyahu’s likely re-election next week.

Speaking on Warren Olney’s NPR show “To the point,” Miller noted that both Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin, and George H.W. Bush and Yitzhak Shamir had difficult relationships, but in both those cases a common cause emerged to improve the connection. In the case of Carter-Begin, it was the opportunity to make peace with Egypt, and in the case of Bush-Shamir, it was the struggle against Saddam Hussein, where Shamir agreed not to retaliate for Saddam’s Scud missile attacks on Israel.

No such common cause had emerged to salvage the dysfunctional Obama-Netanyahu relationship, he said, noting that even the shared concern over Iran’s nuclear drive was characterized by the “significant difference” between the two men over how to handle the threat.

Miller said he did not share the consequent sense of “cosmic Oy Vey” felt by some over a potential drastic deterioration in ties between the two allied countries. The US-Israel relationship is “too important to fail,” he said.”

Still, he said, the two men “mistrust one another” and “have very little confidence in one another.”

He blamed both men for the situation, saying of Obama, “He looks at Israel and emotes more along the lines that Israel is a national security problem.”

Earlier this week, Obama was quoted as saying that Netanyahu does not know what Israel’s best interests are, and is a “political coward.” Netanyahu hit back by saying that only the Israeli people would determine where their best interests lie.

Obama’s reported comments and Netanyahu’s response have been widely highlighted in these final days of the Israeli election campaign; Israel votes on Tuesday. Critics of the prime minister accuse him of jeopardizing the alliance; his supporters argue that the friction underlines Netanyahu’s robust leadership.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-netanyahu-relationship-is-most-dysfunctional-ever/