The White House fended off accusations that US President Barack Obama would succeeded in undermining his stated commitment to America’s alliance with Israel by omitting to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on his arrival in the Jewish State this week, as spokesman Jay Carney insisted Monday: “The notion that Israel's security is of concern only to members of the Knesset I think would be challenged by pretty much every Israeli over the age of five or six.”
Highlighting the Obama administration’s commitment not only to administering to Israel’s defence needs, but also to “the strong bonds that our people share”, Carney told press at a White House daily briefing session that despite the widely-reported apparent oversight, the president’s “message will be heard by Israelis who are both members of the Knesset and who are not”.
Reiterating the American head of state’s emphasis on engaging with the average Israeli during the course of his two-day visit, his first since entering office in 2008, as a new survey by Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post revealed that 80% of Israelis think it unlikely Obama will succeed in driving Mid East peace talks during his second and final term in office, he added that “he looks forward to speaking about the future of the relationship (between the US and Israel), especially with Israeli youth”.
Further refuting lingering criticism of Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security, the White House spokesman invoked recent addresses by Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Defence Minister Ehud Barak to the annual conference of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in which both praised US support for Israel, as he insisted their statements confirmed “the fact that no previous administration has done so much for Israel’s security as this administration has”.
Earlier this month, Barak told delegates at the conference of the “immeasurable contribution” of Obama and his outgoing American counterpart Leon Panetta to “the strength of Israel, and the maintenance of the truly special relationship between our peoples”. Heralding American support ahead for securing Israel as “the strong island of stability it is”, Barak stressed that Israel depended on close allies the US as its “one crucial constant”.
Netanyahu meanwhile contended with making only a video address to the conference, as ongoing coalition wrangling forced him to stay behind in Jerusalem, but nevertheless used the opportunity to extrapolate on how Obama’s forthcoming visit “will give me an opportunity, along with the people of Israel, to express our appreciation for what he has done for Israel”.
Paying tribute to Obama’s repeated insistence Israel must be able to defend itself against threats to its existence, he concluded: “We yearn for peace, we pray for peace, and with President Obama, we shall work for peace”.
Emphasising his administration’s attempts to re-establish a message of unity with its Israeli counterparts. in place of the absent Obama, US Vice President Joe Biden meanwhile told the same forum: “I’ve served with eight Presidents of the United States of America, and I can assure you, unequivocally, no President has done as much to physically secure the State of Israel as President Barack Obama.”
Elsewhere, at a press conference following a meeting with his Australian counterpart in Washington Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will join Obama on his Jerusalem visit, stressed that the President intended to “listen to the members of this new government and to hear personally from Prime Minister Netanyahu what he thinks the road ahead is” with regards to realising an internationally-advocated two state solution.
Concluding that peace remains of primary concern to the entire region, Kerry concluded: “The President understands the importance of it. The question is: Are the parties to this conflict prepared – both of them – to come to the table and negotiate in good faith and with urgency in order to try to resolve this? And once those conversations have taken place, the President will be in a position to evaluate that road forward. We obviously, after all of these years, approach this with continued hopes, but also with a sense of the reality of the difficulties that lie in the way and the need to renew our efforts.”