Obama to U.S. Jews: Still room for Iran diplomacy, no point in 'chest beating'

[Jefferson23]

In meeting with Jewish leaders ahead of Israel visit, the U.S. president reiterates opposition to nuclear Iran, but quotes Chinese saying: Build a golden bridge for your opponent to retreat upon.

By Chemi Shalev and Barak Ravid | Mar.07, 2013 | 11:37 PM

U.S. President Barack Obama told Jewish leaders Thursday that while he was determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he does not believe in “extra chest-beating” and is convinced that there is still room and time for a diplomatic solution.

In a White House meeting with two dozen American Jewish leaders in advance of his upcoming trip to Israel, Obama said that the U.S. and Israel share the same intelligence information regarding Iran, but are divided about the exact point at which “diplomacy becomes irrelevant." Obama added that the gaps between the U.S. and Israel, however, “are not as big as the differences of opinion inside Israel itself.”

According to participants in the off-record meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Obama said he would continue to press for a diplomatic solution, and quoted a Chinese saying attributed to strategist Sun Tzu: “Build a golden bridge for your opponent to retreat upon.” When he was told that Israelis say that they need more “clarity” concerning the U.S. position on Iran, Obama replied: “But that isn’t because we haven’t been clear.”

Obama said that he wouldn’t be bringing any specific peace plan, and a White House official said on background that the president would have “an opportunity to consult with the Israeli government about a broad range of issues - including Iran, Syria, the situation in the region, and the peace process.” Nonetheless, Obama said that he would tell Israelis that the only way to achieve real security is through a peace agreement and a two-state solution.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-to-u-s-jews-still-room-for-iran-diplomacy-no-point-in-chest-beating.premium-1.508039

[Jefferson23]

1. Hamas: Obama can visit Gaza

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas would not oppose a visit by US President Barack Obama to the Gaza Strip, a party leader said Wednesday.

"Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel, but wouldn’t oppose Obama visiting Gaza with the hope that the US attitude to reality will change," said Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Obama is expected to visit Israel and the West Bank in March. According to Dweik, the purpose of Obama's trip is to strengthen Washington's friendship with Israel.

"We are used to America viewing our cause from one angle," the Hamas leader told Ma'an TV.

Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil said Wednesday that the intransigence of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would prevent Obama bringing any new initiatives on his visit.

Obama's trip is "a political maneuver to buy time and to calm the situation," al-Bardawil told Ma'an.

http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=572678

[oberliner]

2. "Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel"

That's funny, I thought it was Israel that refuses to negotiate with Hamas.

Who knew Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel?

[Scootaloo]

3. They apparently refuse to negotiate with each other.

we know already that Israel refuses to talk to Hamas. And now apparently it goes the other way too.

I would say "that doesn't seem productive" but then, i don't think either side is especially interested in productive dialogue anyway.

[azurnoir]

5. why do you support Hamas ?

by pointing out facts like that?

[Scootaloo]

7. Because I like the reaction it gets from Team Israel

[azurnoir]

6. what's that got to do with inviting the POTUS to visit Gaza?

Israel and the US are different countries

[Jefferson23]

4. America's interest in Israel and the Middle East is waning

Despite the U.S. vice president making the right noises about Iran at this week's AIPAC conference, you won't hear any war drums beating in the American capital.

By Amos Harel | Mar.08, 2013 | 9:40 AM |

On the third floor of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. - about a quarter of an hour by foot from where the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby took place this week - there is a permanent exhibition, patriotic in nature, which documents the wars fought by the United States. A large space is devoted to the heroism of American soldiers in the two world wars. Further on there is a sad and concise exhibition about U.S. entanglement in Vietnam.

Visitors to these rooms progress according to a chronological route. The exhibition ends in a small area whose theme is "new American roles" in the one-power world that followed the Cold War and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. There, packed into just a few square meters, are displays relating to the two Gulf wars, the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 and the war in Afghanistan. A sign in the room informs visitors that the museum's management is interested in collecting new items from the recent past.

It's unlikely that this last exhibition room will be enlarged anytime soon. And don't hold your breath waiting for an extension of those "new American roles." The atmosphere in the United States, in the week of the AIPAC conference, is somewhat sour, perhaps even somewhat confused. The days of international glory have apparently passed. America is now characterized by serious problems on the economic front, domestic political paralysis stemming directly from the fierce hostility between its two major parties, and a growing feeling that the leadership needs to look inward at this time, not outward. Moreover, such foreign policy as there is currently focuses more on East Asia and on the complex competition with China than on the Middle East.

America's waning interest in our region is not only a result of the country's emerging tendency to reduce its dependence on petroleum as its major energy source within a few years. It is also due to what looks like the beginning of a feeling of revulsion regarding the Mideast nations - their never-ending dreams, their religious zealotry and the horrific acts of massacre that have been witnessed there in the past two years.

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/america-s-interest-in-israel-and-the-middle-east-is-waning.premium-1.508117#