VIDEO / Obama's Rosh Hashanah message: Seize year of opportunity for Middle East peace
U.S. president offers hope but dampens expectations as peace talks crisis looms over impending end to settlement freeze.
By Natasha Mozgovaya and Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news US Middle East peace Barack ObamaU.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday night issued his annual Rosh Hashanah greeting, urging Israelis and Palestinians to seize the opportunity for peace as Jews across the world prepare to mark the new year.
Obama's message comes as Israeli and Palestinian leaders gird for a second round of Middle East peace talks, which kicked off last week in Washington, with the U.S. president staking much political capital on seeking an end to the decades-old conflict.
Unlike Obama, previous presidents have waited until their second term of office to tackle this knottiest of diplomatic challenges.
"At a time when Israelis and Palestinians have returned to direct dialogue, it is up to us to encourage and support those who are willing to move beyond their differences and work towards security and peace in the Holy Land," Obama said.
But while offering hope, he also sought to dampen expectations.
"Progress will not come easy, it will not come quick. But today we had an opportunity to move forward, toward the goal we share—two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," he said.
Obama's backing is vital if the early meetings in Washington, hailed by observers as a success, are to retain their initial momentum.
Already on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on America to step in to salvage the discussions as a scheduled end to Israel's self-imposed freeze on settlement building in the West Bank looms.
Israel declared the 10-month freeze, which covers all territory beyond the Green Line, excluding East Jerusalem, last year – but has so far resisted international calls for its renewal when it expires on September 26.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces heavy pressure from within his right-wing coalition to let construction restart. If that happens, Abbas could make good his threat to abandon talks altogether.
Following Obama's message, however, the U.S. State Department said that American diplomats were already taking steps to forge a compromise and prevent a collapse. A State Department spokesman hinted that an extra meeting between the leaders, scheduled for September 15 in Jerusalem - a day after they meet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh - was meant specifically to address the dispute on settlements.
“We are mindful of statements, we're mindful of the calendar”, P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington. “That's why we felt it was important to meet next week at a high level. We understand that the leaders themselves will have to decide how this process unfolds."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to attend both meetings and Crowley promised continued American involvement in what he hoped would be a series of summits over the coming months.
"We're going into this process of direct negotiations not with the intent of having one or two sessions and leaving it there. This is going to be an intensive process that carries over weeks and months," he said.
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U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a Rosh Hashanah greeting, September 7, 2010 |
| Photo by: White House |
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In order to accomplish peace, Israel must be pressured by USA and.... wait a minute, USA is the only and lonely country that is friend of Israel.
He does not like the state of Israel...His actions speak louder then words !
Obama is soooo transparent look at his begging eyes to see the fear of losing his white house chair my goodness the ego will be so shattered oooohhh booooobooooo I feel so sorry for the American president of Yes we Can except its not AT ISRAEL'S EXPENSE
here we go........it means that Abbas got right wehn he did insist for garantee from the EU & USA !!!
The three-state solution. The Palestinians have failed at self-government by terrorist Hamas and the corrupt undemocratic PA. Rather than a new terrorist state along indefensible borders, Israel should annex settlement blocs close to the borders, reaffirm its control of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, hand over Israeli-Arab communities along its borders, and hand the Gaza Strip and West Bank over to Egypt and Jordan respectively.
And so it shall be with extremists both Muslim and Judaic being shunted to an irrelevancy limbo.
When one looks back, it is clearly seen that the greater the "friendship" of a US President to Israel (meaning that he applies less pressure on Israel to pursue peace), the less is accomplished. Our greatest "friends" were Clinton and G. Dubya Bush. Clinton did everything Barak asked him to do, including in Camp David. The result: no peace, only Intifada II. Dubya Bush came up with the Roadmap, a plan but no pressure on Israel. Nothing useful resulted. Looking back at the "bad" presidents, Nixon helped Israel with military equipment in Yom Kippur, but then prevented Israel from vanquishing the Egyptian Third Army. He preserved Egypt's honor, and peace became possible. Carter was even insulting in his pressure on Begin. But he ended up god-fathering the Peace Agreement with Sadat. Papa Bush was publicly pushing Shamir, even causing his regime to fall, This resulted in the Madrid Conference which led to Oslo. Obama seems to be made of different stuff. He aspires to do what is "right", more than what political considerations dictate, as he did with healthcare. If the Likud brings upon us an imposed international solution, so be it. The cure will be better than the continuation of the present diseased situation.
I see you save your comments for future and repeated use. How boring
You refer to Oslo as a positive milestone ! ? lt was Kissinger and not Nixon who knew to save Egypt's honour.
building unlawfully on Pal land, using up Pal resources, even when serious efforts are being made to forge a peace agreement between Israel and the Pals. Sounds plain crazy and cynical to me.
Maybe Bibi and his cabinet could reflect on the Rabbi's words. Happy new year. Rabbi Moshe Sherer.... As we all know, three times a day, every Jew takes three steps back at the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei and says, "Oseh Shalom (May He who makes peace)..." We bow to the left, to the right and then forward as we say these words. Why must we step back and bow? This, explained Rabbi Sherer, is to teach us that there is really only one way for a person to truly achieve peace among people. He must "step back," meaning, he must drop his personal interests and not cling stubbornly to his personal viewpoint. Instead, he must concern himself with what is truly good for everyone and he must strive to understand the viewpoint of his adversary. But merely stepping back is not sufficient. After he has convinced himself to think openly and objectively, he must take action for the sake of peace. He must turn to the left, to the right and to the center, each time "bending," that is, compromising a little. Humble yourself and compromise, for only then can you achieve true peace.
Oblahblah should keep his mouth shut and mind his own store. Lord knows he's enough troubles right at home.
This issue is particularly revealing of elements in Netanyahu's personality. First, a basic principle. If you are discussing with another side sharing the land (or a pizza), it cannot be done while one party keeps devouring the land (or the pizza). Some form of a freeze is obviously a necessary condition for peace talks. If this thought did not occur to netanyahu on his own, he could have gotten a clue from the fact that the Roadmap included a freeze in the FIRST phase. This is basic. What decision did the Netanyahu government take? 1. The freeze applies to outside the current line of buildings, not to building WITHIN the currently built area. 2. The freeze will last for only 10 months. 3. The freeze will not be renewed. What do these elements indicate? The first element shows that Netanyahu has some sense of realism, and understands that a territorial exchange is acceptable to the Palestinians, so he takes advantage of it. The two other points are clearly unreal. Was it conceivable that the talks will be concluded in only 10 months? Would the Palestinians even conceive of talking peace with no freezing? I think Netanyahu has enough realism to realize that, but since he was dealing with his right wing partners Lieberman and most of Likud members, he decided to deceive them for now, present a nicer picture, and when the time comes he would try to wriggle out of it. All this shows Netanyahu as a creature of pressure; when pressured he acts, many times deceptively. Ultimately, he is not a courageous leader. He did not fight out the good fight then. Now he will pay some extra political cost for cheating his followers.
At least Netanyahu implemented a freeze in the first place, blithering fool. Why didn't the Palestinians take advantage of it?
Nobody seems to consider the issue of arab building + there was nearly a whole year for the Pals without jewish construction while they refused to even talk. their formula is illogios= take, receive, accept all you can get, but want more and more and more. The more you give the more they want.
"If you are discussing with another side sharing the land (or a pizza), it cannot be done while one party keeps devouring the land (or the pizza)." Well the "devoured" pizza's depreciates (value gone down), while developed land appreciates. But you are right, for Arabs purposes it's irrelevant, the prime example is Gush Katif's hothouses destruction.
Does he really think Jews want to hear a condescending lecture from a gentile on Rosh Shanna? Is he really reminding us of our "sins", a word Jews would never use, then trying to attach that to his failed peace process that just emboldened Hamas to kill a pregnant woman along w/ a few other innocent ppl?