World Watches for U.S. Shift on Mideast

As Israel’s leader heads to Washington, many wonder whether President Obama will chart a different course from his predecessors.

He's trying to divide the land and make friends with evil. How is that different from his predecessors?



Obama's Middle East peace quest

But the Obama administration says the end result must be a two-state solution, and by incorporating the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative into its own effort, it is also telling Israel that its reward would be peace.

Not just with the Palestinians, but with dozens of Arab and Muslim states across the world.

US to Israel: Tone down rhetoric on Iran

While the Obama administration is intent on spearheading an international campaign to prevent Teheran from building nuclear weapons and believes that a nuclear Iran would pose a threat to the stability of the Middle East, US officials - led by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns - plan to offer Iranian leaders a new approach and a return to the international fold in exchange for freezing their nuclear program.

One official said, however, that while the administration's policy was a risk worth taking, it could fail and it might be necessary for the US and its allies to accept the fact of a nuclear Iran.

In either scenario, they said, both the US and Israel should refrain from any bellicose threats against the Islamic Republic, especially ahead of its presidential elections on June 12.

Netanyahu to focus on Iran with Obama, adviser says

"The way things are planned, the focus of Netanyahu's words will be the Iranian nuclear issue," Arad said.

"This is clear not only because this is an existential issue as far as the security of Israel is concerned, but because Iran is progressing all the time toward nuclear military capability."

Israel may be ready to back two-state solution

JERUSALEM (AP) — On the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's crucial visit to Washington, his defense minister suggested Saturday the Israeli leader might be ready to endorse a Palestinian state when he meets President Barack Obama.

That would be a significant shift for Netanyahu, who has made clear in the past that he does not think the Palestinians are ready to rule themselves. But that position has put him at odds with long-standing U.S. policy that supports Palestinian statehood as the cornerstone of Mideast peace efforts.

Israeli defense minister predicts treaties

"I believe Netanyahu is ready for a process whose end is two states for two peoples," Barak said.

Barak also predicted that Israel and neighboring countries, including Syria, would negotiate treaties within three years and that the treaties would then take another five years to fully implement.

***