ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Duke's Damage Control</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="116" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="24" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="465" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="18" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="283" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="26"> <td width="624" height="26" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td width="116" height="2574" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="489" height="1" colspan="3"></td> <td width="18" height="2574" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="2573"> <td width="489" height="2573" colspan="3" align="left" xpos="116" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="5"><b> <br /> Netanyahu Goes to Washington</b></font><p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright May 16, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span class="style1">M</span>eeting for the first time Monday, May 18, there s much anticipation between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin  Bibi Netanyahu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Netanyahu has given Barack a golden opportunity to test his chops at Mideast diplomacy, where there s new hope Netanyahu will soften his diplomatic stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since taking office April 1, Bibi hs shown no willingness to negotiate for a Palestinian State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu has been cool to a  two-state solution, believing Palestinians should first spend their time building their infrastructure, economy, and, most importantly, resolving the current split in their own population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Hamas took Gaza by force June 12, 2007, the Palestinian people were split in two, one controlled by the late Yasser Arafat s successor Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and the other by Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both sides can t agree on anything.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Since taking over as prime minister, the hard-nosed Netanyahu has been hyped in the media as opposed to a Palestinian state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Like his now comatose predecessor former Prime Minister and Kadima Party founder Ariel Sharon, Netanyahu too will seize the moment and negotiate the best possible peace deal for Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few Israeli or U.S. politicians don t want their name etched into the elusive Pantheon of Mideast peacemaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama will find Netanyahu a chip off the old block, educated in Cambridge at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have both signaled a new tough negotiating posture toward Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While no one was a better friend to Israel than former President George W. Bush, Obama too will bend over backwards to accommodate its No. 1 Mideast ally.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu faces considerable opposition from his Likud Party and other conservative groups that make up his governing coalition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His top priority is Israeli national security at a time when Iran marches relentlessly toward nuclear weapons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama walks a tightrope reassuring Netanyahu about Iran while, at the same time, urging Israel to join the multilateral approach attempting to restrain Iran s nuclear ambitions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama will receive Netanyahu s commitment toward a two-state solution as long as the U.S. can guarantee Israel s security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I think and believe that Netanyahu will tell Obama this government is prepared for a political process that will result in a two peoples living side by side in peace and mutual respect, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told Channel 2 TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama seeks a commitment from Netanyahu on a two-state solution with Palestinians.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Painting Netanyahu as hard-nosed helps Israel s negotiating posture and, simultaneously, gives Obama more international leverage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Any Netanyahu concession will be perceived an historic victory for Obama, trying to do what no other president has accomplished since Israel s founding in 1948.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Mideast diplomacy serves as welcomed distraction from more economic bad news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>General Motors expected bankruptcy will shake American confidence to the core at home and abroad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Mideast peacemaking, an impossible task by most yardsticks, pales in comparison to the task of righting the nation s and indeed the global economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama must sell Netanyahu on the linkage between Mideast peacemaking and the multinational cooperation needed to contain a growing Iranian nuclear threat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the press focuses on Netanyahu, the biggest obstacle to peace remains the Palestinian civil war.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama and Netanyahu must find a way of helping Abbas unify the Palestinians population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>As former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice found out, you can t make peace with only half the Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Palestinians went to the polls and voted for Hamas in carefully monitored fair-and-free elections Jan. 26, 2006, they won a decisive majority in the Palestinian parliament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush officials ignored Hamas parliamentary victory, only recognizing Abbas Palestinian Authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama should brainstorm with Netanyahu on how to reconcile Palestine s currently split government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ignoring Hamas and negotiating only with Abbas won t reconcile the two warring factions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Putting heat on Netanyahu won t solve the rift between Fatah and Hamas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No comprehensive peace can take place with half the Palestinian people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hamas must buy into any workable, long-term peace deal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Painting Netayahu as an obstacle to peace plays well in the press but doesn t solve the fundamental problem of a divided Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama should spend his time with Netanyahu figuring out the best way to resolve the Palestinian divide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Following his meeting with Netanyahu, Obama plans on meeting with Abbas and Jordan s King Hussein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both leaders should stop pointing fingers at Israel and figure out a way to reconcile Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> For the U.S., Israeli-Palestinian relations is the top priority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>But for Israel, Iran is the most pressing issue, said Eylan Gbiboa, an expert on U.S-Israeli relations at Bar-Ilan University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Winning concessions on a two-state solution from Netanyahu will score points with Palestinians and other Arab states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ultimately, Palestinians must resolve their civil war before the U.S. can help broker a lasting Mideast peace.</p> <p><u><b>About the Author</b></u></p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He&#39;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet </a>and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<u><br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2573"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2573"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="24" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="24" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="283" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="283" height="1"></td> <td width="18" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="18" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2002 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>