Emanuele Ottolenghi
It is no mystery that U.S. President, Barack Obama, and the serving Israeli Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are not each other’s first choices for their respective jobs. Washington and Jerusalem have spent almost four years seeking to dismiss recurring news’ stories about constant friction between these two men and, more importantly, their policies. Whether these differences are media-hyped, they exist, and are bound to become wider, as Middle East’s regional turmoil continues to challenge U.S. strategic interests and Israel’s security.
First, the Palestinian-Israeli peace process impasse—under the current administration, initial emphasis was put on added pressure on Israel about its settlement policy, including in Jerusalem. The president sought to jumpstart the process at a time when it was dead in the water by conceding to the Palestinian narrative that the main obstacle to peace was Israel’s construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. ...
...Second, how to counter Iran’s nuclear program. For Israel, this is an existential question—for America, one of profound strategic concern.
...Third—how to manage the so-called Arab Spring. Jerusalem views the collapse of the regional order with understandable alarm—the Arab Spring has not ushered in democracy for the time being, but it has either swept away moderately secular, pro-Western regimes that kept the peace with Israel or opened the door for radical Islamic forces.
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