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Last update - 18:38 18/11/2009
ANALYSIS / Netanyahu senses Obama's weakness on Jerusalem
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu 

If there is anything that irks the White House more than news from the American consulate in Jerusalem about new West Bank settlements, it is a newspaper report on a new neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Thus when U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, on Monday about a new construction project in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, which is beyond the 1967 lines, Mitchell was hoping to settle the matter quietly.

He knows what happens in Ramallah, Cairo and Amman when a headline indicates a change in the status quo in this city, which evokes greater sensitivities than any other in the Arab-Israeli conflict. So whose interest was served when, a matter of hours after the meeting, news about the project made headlines in Yedioth Ahronoth?
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This is not the first time, and in all probability won't be the last, that Netanyahu has enlisted East Jerusalem in his political battles. Less than six months ago, it was the Shepherd Hotel project in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Now, it is Gilo. And others are certain to follow.

In the case of the Shepherd Hotel, the prime minister contended that it was private property, and therefore, he would not be able to intervene in the planning and construction process even if he wanted to do so. In the case of Gilo, Netanyahu can't use the same excuse, as the hundreds of new apartments are planned for a site owned by the state's Israel Lands Administration. But this time, the prime minister is not trying to hide behind excuses. Instead, he is pulling out the doomsday weapon: "United Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel."

When U.S. President Barack Obama insists on a construction freeze in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, and even refuses to be moved by stories about "natural growth," Netanyahu ducks for cover. But when a foreign leader, even the leader of the world's greatest superpower, dares to touch a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, the prime minister goes on the offensive. Gilo and other Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line have been at the heart of the Israeli consensus for many years. Their residents vote in no small numbers for the Labor Party or parties to Labor's left.

If to Israelis, "what goes for East Jerusalem goes for Tel Aviv," as Netanyahu says, then as far as the Palestinians are concerned, "what goes for East Jerusalem goes for Ramallah," as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says. A freeze on Jewish construction in East Jerusalem therefore was and remains the key to the peace process.

During his last term as prime minister, Netanyahu rebuffed Arab protests over the building of Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood, east of Gilo, as well as American requests to delay the project. He learned that in the battle over Jerusalem, he could even overpower a successful president like Bill Clinton. Today, he senses Obama's weakness - so he is inviting the U.S. president for another round.

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      1.   Obama folded his tent....next! 06:40  |  John 18/11/09
      2.   Really? Read what Aluf Benn says today. 06:45  |  Fortuna Benmayor 18/11/09
      3.   Maybe he has, maybe he hasn`t 07:24  |  harvey 18/11/09
      4.   The Whole World Nows That 07:28  |  Stan 18/11/09
      5.   US - Why Create a Crisis Now? 08:01  |  Makevet 18/11/09
      6.   Obama has a comeback if he wants to use it 08:22  |  Johnboy 18/11/09
      7.   Israeli settlements 08:40  |  Al Fisher 18/11/09
      8.   Netanyahu/Obama 08:54  |  EJ 18/11/09
      9.   It is Obama the betrayer of American that Netanyahu responds to 09:25  |  Tutut 18/11/09
      10.   Bibi May Yet Be Sorry 09:28  |  Martin 18/11/09
      11.   Come On Home George Mitchell 09:37  |  Mark of Lewiston 18/11/09
      12.   No Ally of Israel 09:37  |  mv 18/11/09
      13.   Gloves off 10:01  |  Claus Hersteller 18/11/09
      14.   Obama should say to hell with Israel 10:03  |  kemardens 18/11/09
      15.   Who is peace for? 10:15  |  Craig 18/11/09
      16.   Jerusalem settlements 10:16  |  Randy 18/11/09
      17.   Poor Israeli, so dumb and blind 10:16  |  john Spear 18/11/09
      18.   Israel thinking way too short term 10:22  |  binny 18/11/09
      19.   Gilo has been "at the heart of Israeli consensus for many years" 10:26  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/11/09
      20.   Obama`s foreign policy 10:30  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/11/09
      21.   Obama caused all these problems himself 10:35  |  zionist forever 18/11/09
      22.   Ethnic cleansing before our eyes 10:59  |  Miggy 18/11/09
      23.   Obama firing only blanks 11:40  |  Roo 18/11/09
      24.   What if ... 11:42  |  Not_so_bright_future 18/11/09
      25.   10 11:49  |  zionist forever 18/11/09
      26.   Obama fires only blanks 12:10  |  Roo 18/11/09
      27.   Look at the picture! This bowing goes on my nerves... 12:16  |  S 18/11/09
      28.   Obama should rewrite his Cairo speech. 12:32  |  Gilad 18/11/09
      29.   John Spear really? 12:43  |  petra 18/11/09
      30.   kemardens 13:00  |  flora 18/11/09
      31.   Marti--cut off UNWRA 13:10  |  thats all 18/11/09
      32.   Johannesburg bantu stan 13:47  |  r cummings 18/11/09
      33.   Abdulklah Eldar ,arab mercenary thinks everyting is down to intri 13:47  |  Absolute Sweden 18/11/09
      34.   25 - There is a third option too 14:00  |  r cummings 18/11/09
      35.   #19 That easy, heh, Cipora? 14:06  |  Johnboy 18/11/09
      36.   Israeli intentions and people like Cipora 1 14:06  |  NSM 18/11/09
      37.   Israeli intentions and people like Cipora 2 14:09  |  NSM 18/11/09
      38.   Obama should do a rethink ala Cairo 14:25  |  Gilad 18/11/09
      39.   Israeli intentions & people like Cipora 1 14:32  |  NSM 18/11/09
      40.   Israeli intentions & people like Cipora 2 14:33  |  NSM 18/11/09
      41.   petra 27 14:44  |  potobac 18/11/09
      42.   The bowing gets on S`s nerves 15:42  |  r cummings 18/11/09
      43.   Johnboy inadvertently put his finger on it 16:22  |  fingerlicker 18/11/09
      44.   Friend or Foe 16:54  |  Joe 18/11/09
      45.   Had Bibi not made the decision on Gilo, his coalition could have 18:10  |  Sarah 18/11/09
      46.   # 28 Petra-- Help me.. 18:31  |  Stephen 18/11/09
      47.   Housing Minister argues that it`s a "technical" matter regarding 18:38  |  Smadar 18/11/09
      48.   The Status Quo is NOT in Israel`s favor 23:32  |  Mark Jeffery Koch 18/11/09
      49.   High stakes game 03:02  |  Bazmann 19/11/09
      50.   When will we have an indepent president? 06:44  |  Basil 19/11/09
      51.   #35, NSM and "indoctrination" 07:19  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/11/09
      52.   #36, NSM, "because its(sic) automatically rightous" 07:27  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/11/09
      53.   Obamas weakness 07:57  |  Kim Rogers 19/11/09
      54.   Stephen #43 - you are asking for help - to understand... 09:00  |  S 19/11/09
      55.   #45 response to Cipora 13:30  |  NSM 19/11/09
      56.   #46 response to Cipora 13:46  |  NSM 19/11/09
      57.   #45 response to Cipora 14:41  |  NSM 19/11/09
      58.   # 49 --"S" 16:06  |  Stephen 19/11/09
      59.   # 51 -S American history, Truman & Eisenhower part 1//1 02:49  |  AinNY 20/11/09
      60.   # 51 --S holocaust as justification 02:51  |  AinNY 20/11/09
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