Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., May 26, 2009 Sivan 3, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:35 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File

Drop by for coffee, Obama By Eldad Yaniv Tags: Barack Obama, peace process  It's too bad that Barack Obama isn't planning to drop by next week, on his way from Andrews Air Force Base to Cairo, because we've grown accustomed to visits by U.S. presidents. While Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were in the White House, the situation was the opposite of what it is today: When American presidents came to the Middle East for a visit, which they did quite often, they would leave their luggage at Jerusalem's King David Hotel and make short sorties to the neighboring countries. Or at least they would meet with the Israeli prime minister. The deviation from that tradition, in short, is the change that Obama believes in. Everything has turned upside down here too. Except for the days of Golda Meir and Yitzhak Shamir, a student who outdid his master, we have always extended a hand of peace and gotten a punch from the Arabs in return. Thus we went from one war to the next for more than 60 years. Advertisement And suddenly, just when it is the Arabs who are extending us a hand, Benjamin Netanyahu model 2009 is busy looking elsewhere. Therefore, Obama will be especially missed in Israel when he's in our neck of the woods. Were he to hop over from Cairo for a short speech in the Knesset, he would get a lot more out of it than he got from the few hours he wasted with Netanyahu in Washington. From the Knesset podium, with Shimon Peres sitting to his right and Reuven Rivlin to his left, he would stare at the Israeli people through the television cameras, look them straight in the eye, and officially declare an end to the War of Independence and our historic victory. Sixty-one years have passed since our Arab neighbors opposed UN Resolution 181, which called for the establishment of two states on the land of Mandatory Palestine, and suddenly they realize they were wrong all along. They see we're here to stay and that anyone who doesn't make peace with us loses out: on America, on the great wide world, on progress, on hope, on the future. And just as 57 Arab and Muslim countries realize the time has come, they have no one to talk with on our side. Obama, who on June 4 will speak in Cairo about historic reconciliation between Muslims and Jews, now needs to convince us that this is actually worthwhile. He must tell us about the billions we'll save by not wasting money on settlements that won't be ours for long anyway, about how we'll use those billions to build a new Israel that will serve as the gate to the Near East, and about how we can use all this newly available money to make our kids the smartest in the world and our health system the most user-friendly and accessible - making Scandinavia look like the third world compared to us. It's not like the world will be completely safe tomorrow, or like the weather will top the news reports. The world has become a dangerous place since 9/11. An American-European-Arab-Israeli alliance is needed to defeat the axis of evil, and then, with all due respect to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he'll end up like Gamal Abdel Nasser and Saddam Hussein, our previous "Hitlers." Were Obama to drop in for a moment, he would tell us loud and clear what he told Netanyahu in private: that it's true that the centrifuges are working overtime in Iran, but they're also working in Pakistan. So, when we're done bombing Natanz, will we start planning the takeover of the nuclear facilities of another Asian power? Obama would calm us down and tell us that a country that has the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad and Dimona and satellites in space doesn't need to be afraid and should stand up straight. So now that we need you most, Obama, you're not coming? June 5 is a good day to drop in. We're celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the Six-Day War. That's just the time to turn on the light of hope in our tired eyes. And only you can do that, because in Netanyahu's Caesarea mansion and Barak's luxury Tel Aviv apartment, there's no patience for your childish solutions to the conflict, or your illusions about peace. So, you'll drop by for a cup of coffee? Bookmark to del.icio.us   Double threat 'Israel likely to face simultaneous missile strikes, terror attacks in future war.' Pet Shop Boys in Israel British pop icons are set to play a one-off performance in Tel Aviv in July.

Read & React Israel moves closer to banning mourning of its independence Responses: 66 Canada minister blasts 'dangerous' leftist-Islamist anti-Semitism Responses: 60 Hezbollah could strike Israel to divert Hariri probe Responses: 30 Shas min.: Reform conversions will prompt influx of Palestinians to Israel Responses: 33 More Headlines 22:28 'If Israel doesn't remove Iranian threat, no one will' 22:58 Secret document: Venezuela, Bolivia supplying Iran with uranium 17:20 'Israel will face terror, missiles in future war' 22:21 Iran rejects Western proposal for freezing Nuclear program 23:29 Nasrallah: Israel behind report blaming Hezbollah for Hariri killing 22:20 Israel demands world 'respond decisively' to North Korea nuclear test 17:50 In Israel, Adam Lambert would have won 21:47 Dutch-Jewish poet masks Israeli roots to win Arab prize 20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel 20:29 Muslim nations at Damascus conference: Resistance is not terrorism 13:34 Pet Shop Boys to perform in Israel in July 14:28 Labor ministers to fight bill banning Nakba events 22:12 Netanyahu offers top minister job of point man on Shalit talks 20:29 Abbas: Israel's settlement building will be focus of Obama meet 16:54 Arab League chief: Israeli objections to Russia-Hamas talks 'nonsense' 20:04 Polish court punishes 'Mein Kampf' publisher Previous Editions Select Day 25 may 24 may 22 may 21 may 20 may 19 may 18 may 17 may 15 may 14 may 13 may 12 may

Special Offers Advertisement hotel Jerusalem David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels. ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles Dead Sea Skin Care Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |

| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel

| Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved