Uneasy Netanyahu prepares to meet Obama

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head into his first visit with President Barack Obama today worried by US overtures to Iran and Syria and under pressure to support a Palestinian state.

The two leaders, who will meet at the White House, bring diverging policies on how to approach the Middle East conflict.

The Obama administration is trying to promote dialogue with Iran and Syria, Israel’s arch enemy. Israel fears such efforts could lead to greater tolerance for Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

But Israel and the US dismiss Iran’s claims that its nuclear programme is designed to produce energy rather than weapons. Mr Netanyahu regards Tehran as the greatest threat to Israel – a fear magnified by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s repeated references to Israel’s annihilation.

In the run-up to the February 10 election, Mr Netanyahu derided the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which stalled late last year, as a waste of time.

He has made clear in the past that he does not think the Palestinians are ready to rule themselves.

But that position has put him at odds with US policy that supports Palestinian statehood as the cornerstone of broader Middle East peace efforts. Now, he’s feeling the pressure from Washington to endorse Palestinian statehood, and there were some hints that he might be shifting his position.

On the eve of Mr Netanyahu’s meeting with Mr Obama, there were conflicting signals on the Israeli leader’s stance.

Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, said yesterday in Jordan that Mr Netanyahu would abide by agreements signed by his predecessors, including the US-backed Middle East peace plan calling for a two-state solution to the conflict with Palestinians.

Mr Peres said progress depended on an end to attacks by Hamas militants and greater Palestinian efforts to ensure Israel’s security.

Just before Mr Netanyahu set off for Washington, Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak said he thought peace with the Palestinians could be achieved within three years.

“I think and believe that Netanyahu will tell Obama this government is prepared to go for a political process that will result in two peoples living side by side in peace and mutual respect,” Mr Barak said on Saturday.

But yesterday Israel’s national security adviser Uzi Arad left a different impression, saying “there might be even some differences in approach” with Mr Obama.

“There are many hurdles” on the road to living side by side in peace with the Palestinians, Mr Arad said, citing the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Islamic Hamas militants in June 2007.

“That is the presence of a huge terrorist infrastructure that was put in place, established precisely at the time when Israel evacuated Gaza and allowed the Palestinians to rule themselves.”

Senior White House officials said Mr Obama’s meeting with Mr Netanyahu was part of his commitment to pursue a comprehensive peace that includes a two-state solution.

Mr Netanyahu has tried to persuade the Americans that Iran, with its nuclear ambitions and anti-Israel proxies in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, must be reined in before peacemaking with the Palestinians can progress.

But the Americans have not been persuaded and want to see serious progress so moderate Arab states will not have a reason to shun an international alliance meant to curb Iran.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding Syria in recent weeks.

An Obama envoy was in Syria to try to repair strained relations and assured the government the US was committed to pursuing a comprehensive Middle East peace.

Mr Peres yesterday urged Syria to open direct peace talks and said some had suggested Syrian president Bashar Assad and Mr Netanyahu meet.

“The Syrians should be ready to talk. If President Assad wants peace, why is he shy?” Mr Peres said after an international economic meeting.

Mr Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington yesterday, also scheduled meetings with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, defence secretary Robert Gates and congressional leaders.