Speak to us, Mr. President

Since his election, U.S. President Barack Obama has reiterated his commitment to Israel's security and to advancing peace and normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In his meeting on Monday with leaders of the American Jewish community, Obama promised to work toward achieving a two-state solution and said the creation of a Palestinian state is in Israel's security interest.

During his six months in office, Obama has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the idea of a Palestinian state and to freeze construction in the settlements. In exchange, he promised to ask the Arab states to take steps toward a normalization of relations with Israel, such as opening diplomatic representations and flight routes. Netanyahu adopted the two-state solution, albeit while specifying certain conditions, but he continues to refuse to stop development in the settlements.

In "closed" talks with associates and foreign visitors, Netanyahu has blasted Obama, asserting that the president's pressure on Israel is aimed at placating the Arabs at Israel's expense. He claimed that Obama is adversely influenced by two of his senior aides, Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, whom the prime minister called "self-hating Jews," according to a report in Haaretz by Barak Ravid earlier this month. Netanyahu united Israel's political establishment behind him to support his refusal to halt construction in the settlements, and his position has found public support.

Netanyahu is erring twice: by entering into an unnecessary and harmful conflict with the U.S. administration, and by rejecting Obama's fundamental desire to break through the stalemate in the peace process and complete the process of Israel's acceptance into the Middle East. The election of Obama and his popularity in the Arab world create a unique opportunity for a breakthrough in the peace process, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Now the U.S. administration must convince the Israeli public that it has a friend in the White House, and that the administration's positions correspond with Israel's national interests. The president promised the Jewish leaders that he will speak to the Israelis candidly, "as a true friend," so they will understand where he is coming from. After talking to the Arabs, the Muslims and the Iranians, in speeches and on television, it is only right that Obama address the Israeli public and persuade the people to support reviving the peace process with the Palestinians and Syrians and halting the destructive settlement enterprise in the West Bank.