Obama tells Israel to engage in “serious self-reflection”, does not discuss Jewish settlements
During the talks, which also focused on the security of the Jewish State and the situation in Iran, Mr Obama “reiterated his unshakable commitment to Israel's security, and reiterated his commitment to working to achieve Middle East peace.”
Likewise he said that his administration wanted to help Israel overcome its demographic problem by reaching an agreement on a two-state solution
For their part Jewish leaders did not hide their concern over disagreements between Washington and Jerusalem during the White House meeting.
One of the participants asked the president to take a lower profile regarding public differences between his administration and the Netanyahu government over Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He also complained that the United States appeared to take a harder line with Israel than with Iran.
Obama said that the old approach to the controversial issue of settlements was not helpful. He reminded his 16 guests that during the eight years of the Bush administration disagreements between Israel and the United states did not lead to a breakdown in relations, nor did they become the subject of public debate.
Since they came into office, both President Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on several occasions urged Israel to stop its illegal settlement activities in the West Bank, insisting that this is a necessary condition for the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.
However, Israel shows no signs that it is prepared to stop settlements, insisting instead on their “natural growth”.
Conversely the Palestinian Authority made it clear that it will not sit down for talks until settlements activities end. Their mere existence is an impediment to the territorial unity of any would-be Palestinian State.
On the Iranian nuclear issue, Obama told the leaders that “the door to dialogue is open. If the Iranians do not walk through it, however, we will have to see how we proceed. But it would be a mistake to talk now about what we're going to do and how we're going to do it.”
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