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Last update - 08:38 10/11/2009
Can Oslo take back Obama's Nobel?
By Yoel Marcus
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu 

David Ben-Gurion was not invited to the White House until the end of his term, and needed various excuses to meet with the presidents in hotels. In Benjamin Netanyahu's case, the fear of not meeting with Barack Obama made him sweat.

On the eve of his trip to the Jewish Federations' General Assembly in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu faced unflattering headlines saying it was not certain whether President Obama would meet him.

There are two likely reasons for the move. One is that Bibi was all-too-confident that the moment his feet hit American soil, the White House doors would open before him - as they did with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The second possibility is that Netanyahu's excessive confidence angered Obama, who thought he was taking the meeting with him for granted. And so his aides advised him to let Netanyahu sweat.
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And sweat he did. The fact that he didn't take his wife Sara with him indicates that the president's advisers didn't want the meeting to look too intimate and informal. In his previous term as prime minister, Netanyahu brought not only his wife but two of his children to Clinton's office. To the embarrassment of those present, the kids started throwing cushions at each other in the Oval Office.

In reality, there is no major difference in the relations between the two states. The Americans have not stopped the aid or the modern weapons supply to Israel. The only thing that can be said is that Bibi and Obama have not developed a personal, intimate relationship.

The White House and whoever is stirring things up over there has reduced the familiarity level to that of humiliation. For example, they released a photograph of Obama speaking on the phone with Netanyahu with his feet on the desk. This was their way of hinting that Obama is not Bush and does not see the prime minister as the king of Israel.

Just when the polls in Israel are showing that most of the public supports Bibi - who aspires to reach an agreement with the Palestinians - it's unclear why Obama had to kick-start the peace in Cairo with a reconciliation call to Islam. The result has been one big disappointment. Obama has not received from the Muslim world as much as a gesture to advance the Israeli-Palestinian arrangement, while Netanyahu has announced that Israel supports negotiations on the principle of two states for two peoples without any preconditions.

Instead of seizing the bull by the horns and setting about to open the negotiations immediately, Obama hesitated. Then Mahmoud Abbas brought up all kinds of conditions - starting with the demand to stop all the construction in the territories immediately. Olmert and Tzipi Livni held talks with Abbas for two years; not once did he raise the demand that Israel must first stop the construction in the West Bank for natural growth.

It is not clear how one can set about to hold negotiations "without preconditions" when the Palestinians are demanding the cessation of construction in the territories. Israel will have to concede in this area anyway, while conducting a complicated struggle - perhaps even an internecine war - to achieve peace.

Netanyahu has still made it clear that he is willing to negotiate an agreement with no preconditions. He says the same about a possible agreement with Syria. Once he used those slogans to avoid the issue. Now, in his second term, Netanyahu wants to succeed and he has the parliamentary majority to do so.

But Obama is in trouble at home. Democrats were recently defeated in both Virginia and New Jersey, where Republicans were elected. The defeat does not bode well for the congressional elections due next November. Meanwhile, Obama's great promise, on the issue of health insurance, is moving along slowly.

Apart from his rhetorical skills, Obama has failed to keep a single promise or solve one major problem during his time in office. In this situation he cannot afford to lose the support of the Jews, who are behind 40 percent of the contributions to the Democrats' elections. Meanwhile, the cold shoulder Obama is giving us and the hazing he's put Bibi through have achieved nothing but Abbas' announcement that he would not be running for the next Palestinian Authority elections. Perhaps he will and perhaps he won't.

While Israel is seriously talking about the peace process, Obama has problems at home. His list of disappointments now includes his failure to create a mechanism to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama received the Nobel Peace prize too early. I wonder if they have a mechanism in Oslo to take it back.
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  1.   Unfortunately, no one is checking for the truth by Mr. Marcus 04:55  |  Big 10/11/09
  2.   Silly marcus...endless negotiating trix are for kids 05:19  |  John 10/11/09
  3.   Great campaigner, lousy pupil about the Middle East. 06:25  |  Fortuna Benmayor 10/11/09
  4.   a decent man... 08:19  |  scallywag 10/11/09
  5.   a decent man... 08:52  |  scallywag 10/11/09
  6.   i fear the prize will not be taken back 08:54  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  7.   Marcus the `know it all` 09:00  |  Michael N 10/11/09
  8.   He`s incompetent 09:06  |  Moshavnik 10/11/09
  9.   Probably Not... 09:21  |  Yosemite 10/11/09
  10.   They didn`t take Arafat`s or Peres`s prize back 09:23  |  sh 10/11/09
  11.   I Strongly Boycott My Last Joke... 09:27  |  Yosemite 10/11/09
  12.   Thanks for that Bibi-apologia, Yoel. 09:37  |  Johnboy 10/11/09
  13.   sh 09:37  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  14.   Netanyahu`s false "no pre-conditions" is a travesty... 09:50  |  Esther 10/11/09
  15.   Irrelevant 09:53  |  Andrew 10/11/09
  16.   As for jocular references to Obama`s Noble... 10:00  |  Esther 10/11/09
  17.   johnboy and esther 10:05  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  18.   andrew 10:08  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  19.   To the author, Haaretz` zionist-in-chief 10:10  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  20.   saul 10:15  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  21.   Yoel Marcus - Believing Republican Spin 10:16  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/11/09
  22.   john spear 10:19  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  23.   Obama 10:21  |  Letscheck 10/11/09
  24.   Andrew #16, 17... surely you realize how ridiculous it is... 10:25  |  Esther 10/11/09
  25.   Spin 10:31  |  Wondwossen 10/11/09
  26.   Saul n.12 10:33  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  27.   When Israel doesn`t like Obama 10:41  |  Me 10/11/09
  28.   It must be Israel`s fault 10:44  |  tiki 10/11/09
  29.   again john spear 10:48  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  30.   Bibi`s on a motorway in a car that can only turn right. 10:51  |  Michael 10/11/09
  31.   #8, Moshavnik, I am really afraid that you are right 10:55  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 10/11/09
  32.   #16, Esther 10:58  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 10/11/09
  33.   esther 11:16  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  34.   me 11:22  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  35.   Weak article 11:28  |  Roo 10/11/09
  36.   marc 11:28  |  america 10/11/09
  37.   despicable Cipora? 28 11:32  |  Jez Baines 10/11/09
  38.   Moshavnik 11:35  |  america 10/11/09
  39.   In view of articles like this one, can Haaretz still be called... 11:40  |  Swiss (Dino) 10/11/09
  40.   Let`s not be children Mr Marcus 12:00  |  Justine Effort 10/11/09
  41.   Obama is Learning 12:07  |  MB 10/11/09
  42.   a query 12:21  |  nunnov 10/11/09
  43.   and again to john spear 12:25  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  44.   swiss (dino) 12:30  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  45.   Saul can`t stand the truth 12:32  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  46.   #17 Spare me the ignorance, Saul 12:52  |  Johnboy 10/11/09
  47.   Cipora #32... you missed the point... 12:56  |  Esther 10/11/09
  48.   Obama is Right 13:18  |  Wondwossen 10/11/09
  49.   to john spear (45) 13:23  |  tiki Belgium 10/11/09
  50.   Saul #33... it was small compensation for what they had lost... 13:23  |  Esther 10/11/09
  51.   john spear - why do you think that i`m a jew? 13:28  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  52.   Tiki - I do not know if Haarets, will publish this - 2! 13:43  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  53.   Saul .... Jewish name, but it is irrelevant who you are. 13:53  |  John Spear 10/11/09
  54.   answer to #43 14:09  |  america 10/11/09
  55.   Johnboy glosses over the Hamas issue 14:10  |  Peter Williams 10/11/09
  56.   Please enumerate 14:32  |  Axel 10/11/09
  57.   Netanyahu/Obama tete a tete 15:59  |  Keith T. 10/11/09
  58.   Obama is doing fine 16:39  |  Jeffrey Kohan 10/11/09
  59.   Notice saul a. readner contributes posts to Yoel Marcus articles 19:22  |  Smadar 10/11/09
  60.   Obama is not doing fine 19:35  |  Mali 10/11/09
  61.   spare me the ignorance, johnboy 21:15  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  62.   again to esther 21:16  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  63.   smadar 21:19  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  64.   john spear and names 21:22  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  65.   Oslo can punish Obama-pay in dollars vice Euros 21:31  |  Voice of Reason 10/11/09
  66.   again to esther 22:38  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  67.   spare me your ignorance, johnboy 22:39  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  68.   #37 Jez, when King Joe does cultivate his 22:47  |  Ardi 10/11/09
  69.   smadar 22:49  |  saul a. readner 10/11/09
  70.   Bibi`s "without conditions" is a ridiculous ploy 23:31  |  Esther 10/11/09
  71.   saul readner 29 00:11  |  potobac 11/11/09
  72.   #55 I`m sorry, Peter Williams 00:54  |  Johnboy 11/11/09
  73.   John spear 01:32  |  sani 11/11/09
  74.   SAUL IS RIGHT JOHN SPEAR 01:45  |  sani 11/11/09
  75.   saul readner 01:52  |  netanel tene parnas 11/11/09
  76.   Obama - stop wasting any time with Bibi 02:38  |  Don Boston 11/11/09
  77.   John Spear`s Knowledge of History=ZERO 03:45  |  sfg 11/11/09
  78.   John Spears Logic 03:55  |  sfg 11/11/09
  79.   Everyone in America thinks Obama didn`t deserve it 04:59  |  David 11/11/09
  80.   johnboy, spare me your ignorance 07:28  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  81.   smadar 07:32  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  82.   America MUST boycott israeli hummus 07:44  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/11/09
  83.   Why? The anti-Semites are getting what they wanted. 07:46  |  Global Citizen 11/11/09
  84.   Perfect stereotyping of an Israeli 07:49  |  Curious 11/11/09
  85.   johnboy, spare me your ignorance 08:55  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  86.   again to esther - small compensation 08:56  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  87.   john spear and names 08:57  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  88.   smadar 08:58  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  89.   David #64 Why did he accept it? 09:06  |  Peter Williams 11/11/09
  90.   Saul.... 09:51  |  John Spear 11/11/09
  91.   Saul,, your friends blah blah blah 10:15  |  John Spear 11/11/09
  92.   on june 6th 2008 yoel marcus compared netanyahu to obama 10:25  |  scallywag 11/11/09
  93.   john spear - really funny 10:29  |  saul a. readner 11/11/09
  94.   Johnboy #72 re Roadmap 12:12  |  Peter Williams 11/11/09
  95.   Natural Growth 13:58  |  Anwar 11/11/09
  96.   # 44 saul a. readner, I fully agree with you, BUT..... 14:00  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/11/09
  97.   #88 saul readner Perhaps irrelevant but will pay closer 14:28  |  Smadar 11/11/09
  98.   # 26 John Spear 14:39  |  The Teacher/Instruct 11/11/09
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