Les Etats-Unis repensent leur relation avec Israël

Le premier geste de sa présidence avait été d’appeler le président de l’Autorité palestinienne, Mahmoud Abbas. Et 119 jours plus tard, Barack Obama s’entretient pour la première fois, ce lundi 18 mai, avec le premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Nétanyahou, à la Maison Blanche. Iran, processus de paix, dénucléarisation du Proche-Orient : les enjeux sont élevés alors que Washington tente de passer d’une position de soutien sans faille à Israël à celle de faiseur de paix dans la région.

Après cet entretien, le président américain doit recevoir, le 26 mai, son homologue égyptien Hosni Moubarak, et le 28 mai, M. Abbas. Il a prévu ensuite de s’adresser directement au monde arabe le 4 juin, au Caire. Une conférence internationale – vieille idée de la Russie – pourrait suivre.

Jordan Tells Israel to Accept Two-State Solution

IHT

By ISABEL KERSHNER

Published: May 14, 2009

JERUSALEM — The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, met on Thursday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, who urged the Israeli leader to commit to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, according to news reports.

Mr. Netanyahu made the unannounced trip to Jordan hours before he was to meet in Nazareth with Pope Benedict XVI, and days ahead of a pivotal meeting with President Obama, scheduled to take place in Washington on Monday. It will be the first meeting between the Israeli and American leaders since the conservative-leaning Mr. Netanyahu took office six weeks ago.

Israel, land of broken promises

Times

Open Minds: Israel should embrace Jews of all colours and cultures, says the writer Rachel Shabi

OPINION/ The left on probation

ha’aretz

By Alexander Yakobson

Likud’s formation of a cabinet with Labor seems to offer Meretz a great opportunity. Many people want there to be a firm opposition. Meretz has a relative advantage in several important issues, the main one being its determined opposition to the settlement project. Kadima, which is also in the opposition, does not have a good record in this area. Labor is no better, considering that its leader, Ehud Barak, did not evacuate a single illegal outpost during his term as defense minister.

The settlement issue is not just another political matter. Focusing on it need not reflect tribal enmity toward the settlers and the national-religious community. It’s a question regarding the country’s future: whether the State of Israel has a future.

OPINION/We have become slaves

ha’aretz

By Doron Rosenblum

This Passover, observant Jews said the Blessing of the Sun, a tradition held every 28 years steeped in mysticism, under which the sun is believed to return to its location on the fourth day of Creation. But the sun isn’t alone in returning to where it was 28 years ago: A comparison between today’s headlines and those in the archives show that Israel is also where it was 28 years ago.

Back in 1981, the year Israel destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor, we were threatened by an existential threat, Likud won the elections, Israeli jets flew over Lebanon on reconnaissance missions, three new settlements were built on the Golan Heights and many more in the West Bank, and veteran MK Michael Eitan had just become a lawmaker. Indeed, the sun seems to have been at the exact same angle as it was this week when the government was sworn in.

Netanyahu’s 2nd chance

Yedioth Aharonoth

Obama may find new Israeli PM a willing partner for sustainable peace
Alon Ben-Meir
function setDbLinkCategory(url) {eval(unescape(url));}The new Israeli government led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has raised many conflicting feelings among those concerned about the fate of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Will Netanyahu scuttle the little progress that was made under his predecessor Olmert, or will he engage the Palestinians anew?

What to speak with Hamas about

 By Shlomo Avineri

Recently, more and more voices have been heard saying that the only way to reach an Israeli-Palestinian accord is by talking to Hamas. These voices are not only in Europe but also in the United States. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, for example, and Brent Sowcroft, who was national security adviser to the first president Bush, have said that without a dialogue with Hamas there will be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And if Israel refuses to do so, the Europeans or the Americans should begin a dialogue with Hamas. Similar statements can also be heard in the margins of Israeli politics. I believe they are right, but not for the reasons they cite. The question is what to talk to Hamas about.

For Egypt, Promise of 1979 Peace Still Unfulfilled

NEW YORK TIMES

05 April 2009

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

CAIRO — In the past week, Egypt marked the historic 30-year anniversary of its peace treaty with Israel without any public celebration and only the barest public mention.

It is not surprising, really, that there was no cheering here. The timing could hardly have been worse, with memories still fresh of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

But mention of the anniversary also served as a reminder of promises unfulfilled. Egyptians were told that the treaty would lead to a comprehensive peace, and it did not. They were told that it would allow the government to focus on political, social and economic development, instead of war. But they still live in an authoritarian state, defined for many by poverty.

Egyptians were told that the treaty would give them a voice to advocate for the Palestinians. But few see it as having turned out that way.

“Today Egypt is not influential in anything,” said Osama Anwar Okasha, a leading Egyptian television writer. “It is a third-class country in this region. Egypt was the leading country and it gave up this leading role. Now it is like a postman, delivering messages.”

The public mood is dark all around right now, and the sentiment points to the treaty as the start of Egypt’s decline and diplomatic impotence.

“Of course the treaty is not the cause of all of this, but it was the initial seed,” said Fahmy Howeidy, a writer and political analyst in Cairo.

The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt is a bedrock of the Middle East peace process, positioning Egypt as a key player in every international diplomatic effort to resolve the Palestinian conflict. It is a pillar of Egypt’s foreign policy, as well, and an institutional given among Egypt’s governing class. President Hosni Mubarak has demonstrated that he is committed to the treaty, and to the diplomatic process and political system that built and supports the treaty.

Analysis: Arab summit in Qatar – a demonstration of weakness

Apr. 1, 2009
Zvi Mazel , THE JERUSALEM POST

The yearly gathering of Arab leaders which took place this week in Doha was supposed to be a summit of reconciliation; instead it laid bare the depth of the chasm in the Arab world, which was revealed in all its helplessness.

Scheduled to run for two days – March 30 and 31 – it closed its doors at the end of the first day.

Peace still eludes the Middle East

AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL

On March 26, 1979, Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president, Jimmy Carter, his US counterpart, and Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister, ended 30 years of war and signed a peace treaty that would become an iconic moment in the history of the Middle East.

It was the first time an Arab nation had agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Hoda Zaki, an Egyptian professor of English who moved to the US a few years after the signing of the treaty, remembers the handshake as a “genuine gesture of good will.”