For a moment, it seemed that there were two Benjamin Netanyahus visiting the US this week — the one in Washington, where he seemed cordial with US President Barack Obama, despite their “deep differences”. And the one in New York, where he lambasted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly session.
The Iranian leader ended his charm offensive in the US by engaging his American counterpart in a momentous telephone call that lasted 15 minutes, paving the way for better times ahead. Obama, reporting to the media about his 90-minute session with Netanyahu, revealed that their focus was primarily on these “hectic times, and nowhere is that more true, obviously, than in the Middle East”. These included, he added with some exaggeration, the “good-faith negotiations” between the Israelis and the Palestinians, promising that “our goal continues to be to help facilitate — not dictate, but facilitate — the kind of genuine negotiations that will result in two sates living side-by-side in peace and security”. The other topics included Syria’s chemical weapons which, Obama underlined, threatened Syrian civilians, “but over the long term also pose a threat to Israel”. Egypt was another issue of concern in part “because of the important role that the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli peace treat serve ... the security in the region and US security”.
As far as Iran was concerned, Obama stressed “it is imperative that Iran not possess a nuclear weapon ... because we do not want to trigger a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world”.
In turn, Netanyahu stressed that “the most important challenge is preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” adding that he deeply appreciates “the fact hat you have made clear that you remain committed to this goal”.
As far as the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations go, Netanyahu’s only significant line was that for peace to endure between them “it must be based on Israel’s capacity to defend itself by itself” — a hint on Israel’s reported possession of nuclear and chemical weapons.
What has been most interesting is that the two leaders hardly said anything significant in their public statements, fearing that this would prompt a public row like the well-publicised spats between them in yesteryears. However, the Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that a senior US official, who remains unidentified, revealed that Obama told Netanyahu at their meeting that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had complained to Obama on the sidelines of their UN General Assembly meeting that he had asked for a more active US role in the negotiations with Israel. Haaretz also explained that Abbas had “expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the peace talks ... the (two) sides have yet to seriously discuss the borders of a future Palestinian state and Israel’s security arrangement demands — two core issues they decided to focus on first”.
The arrogant performance of the Israeli prime minister has also won him rebuke from both Israeli President Shimon Peres as well as an editorial in Haaretz last Tuesday, both dealing with his diatribe against Rouhani, whose stance at the UN this week has won him loss of American praise. President Peres criticised the prime minister’s “scornful” approach towards developing diplomatic ties between the US and Iran. Netanyahu has been quoted as saying before his arrival in the US that Iran is using the diplomatic approach as a tactic to “fool” the West while it continues to enrich uranium, promising that he was going to “expose the truth” of Iran’s ”sweet talk” and “onslaught of smiles”.
Haaretz noted in an editorial that “Obama has achieved a breakthrough of sorts on two issues that threatened to explode: Syria’s chemical weapons and Iran’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons. Israel has an interest in the success of Obama’s diplomatic efforts on both fronts.” It added: “Netanyahu has sounded like someone unjustly deprived of his prey. Instead of welcoming the chance to deprive Iran of nuclear weapons while being spared a military entanglement, he is entrenching himself in his role as an angry prophet warning against Iranian deceptions. The message is that the American president is naive — one could almost say foolish — and that only the Israeli prime minister is sober and experienced. This is not just presumption, but arrogance.”
George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com