Obama meets Israeli prime minister

By Ioana Botea

For the first time, Barack Obama presented a timeframe for pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. At the end of his meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the American president said on Monday 18 May, that by "the end of the year", he will reassess his strategy in light of the progress achieved so far.

In response to a question, Mr. Obama delivered the most detailed timetable of his intentions regarding Iran to date. After the presidential elections of June 12, he said, "we hope that dialogue will begin, first through a P5 +1 (the permanent members of Security Council plus Germany) process, and potentially through direct talks between the United States and Iran."

Israeli Prime Minister demanded a deadline, preferably in the fall, but Mr. Obama said that Washington will not add any artificial deadline. “We will not create a situation where the talks become excuses for inaction while Iran develops a nuclear weapon," he said. If negotiations start soon, "we should know before the end of the year if they are going in the right direction."

The talks, including a thirty-minute one-on-one, lasted an hour longer than planned, which caused Mr. Obama to postpone the appointment scheduled for the next NASA Administrator. Held in the Oval Office, the informal press conference reflected the desire to discuss differences amiably. On Iran, for example, Mr. Obama assured his visitor that he did not rule out "a number of measures, including much harsher sanctions." Mr. Netanyahu interpreted his declaration as a reaffirmation that "all options are on the table," coded language suggesting military action.

On the connection between Iran and the Palestinian problem, Mr. Netanyahu tried to make sure that the two men had a perfect identity of views, while Mr. Obama, contrary to his visitor, did not agree that the Iran issue should be the priority. Nevertheless, Mr. Obama reiterated his position on "two-state solution." He recalled that the commitments made by previous governments should be honored, but he also declared that forced colonization must be “stopped” – a term George W. Bush would never have used.

Mr. Netanyahu strongly emphasized the necessity of creating "two states". He reiterated his demand that the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state of Israel. "We do not want to govern the Palestinians," he assured. Every single concession has been to support the idea of "widening the circle of peace to include other (parts of) the Arab world."

After the interview, the National Security Adviser, James Jones, was immediately dispatched to pursue talks with his Israeli counterpart, Uzi Arad. According to ABC, Barack Obama asked that the Israelis make a statement before the speech he is giving in Cairo on June 4.

"The moment of truth is not yet ripe," said Robert Malley, a former negotiator for Bill Clinton who was rejected by the circle of informal advisers to Mr. Obama for having met with Hamas elements. According to Malley, there is no need to attach great importance to the fact that "two-state solution" was not made by Mr. Netanyahu. "He can not use it for domestic political reasons,” he said. “His predecessor (Ehud Olmert) was in favor and we still had two wars and the continuation of colonization," he declared on PBS .