Obama-Netanyahu meeting shrouded in secrecy

[Amberglass]

Part of me thought that maybe this should go into the lookout tower.

Wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall for this meeting?


Obama-Netanyahu meeting shrouded in secrecy
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default...=178&nid=19937



First, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to jump through hoops just to get a meeting with US President Barack Obama. When they did meet on Monday, the contents of their talks were either so negative or so classified that a near-total media blackout was placed on the gathering.
Netanyahu left Israel for Washington on Sunday to attend and address the 2009 General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Weeks earlier, he had requested to meet with Obama during the visit, a typical occurrence any time an Israeli leader travels to the US. But this time, the Obama White House made Netanyahu sweat it out till the last minute before, as media reports put it, "grudgingly" scheduling a meeting.
The White House's apparent reluctance to invite Netanyahu was an indication to most Israelis that relations remain tense between the Obama Administration and Jerusalem.

Then things got really curious when the White House totally broke protocol by barring the media from the meeting. Following the two-hour get-together, Netanyahu left the White House immediately without speaking to reporters, and promptly cancelled a press conference that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Instead, he hopped on a plane for Europe.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who attended part of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, also cancelled several radio interviews scheduled for Tuesday.

Speculation was rife in Israel that the unusual secrecy surrounding the meeting could either mean that Obama tried to strong-arm the Israelis to surrender to Palestinian demands and was firmly repulsed, or that the meeting focused on an impending Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. In remarks to Israel's Ynet news portal, attorney Dov Weisglass, who served as bureau chief to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, added a third option - that Netanyahu had agreed to far-reaching concessions to the Palestinians and wanted to keep the details under wraps for now to avoid a political storm at home.

[Amberglass]

News blackout on PM, Obama meeting

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a lengthy meeting with US President Barack Obama Monday night which addressed the Middle East peace process, Iran and Israeli security.

The one-hour-and-forty-minute parley was accompanied by an unusual news blackout, as the standard photo op and press availability were not held. In addition, Netanyahu canceled a scheduled briefing with Israeli reporters and Defense Minister Ehud Barak scrapped plans for radio interviews following the talks.

Instead, both sides referred to a brief statement put out by the White House after the Monday evening meeting, about half of which was one-on-one and half of which included four members of staff on each side.
Barak, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, National Security Council head Uzi Arad and PMO adviser Yitzhak Molcho joined Netanyahu.

"The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues," said the White House readout. "The president and prime minister also discussed Iran and how to move forward on Middle East peace."

The White House deflected questions earlier in the day about why the Obama-Netanyahu meeting would be held without the usual TV cameras or statements to the media. In response, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs first said that "our schedule since late last week has been up in the air," as Obama has shifted his schedule to participate in Tuesday's memorial service in Fort Hood among other events.

Pressed on the issue, as it is highly unusual for the president to see an Israeli prime minister without any media presence, Gibbs said that "the President wanted to have a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. That's what we're doing."

He added, "The contents of the meeting generally seem to be well read out and I trust that this time will be no different."

However, after the leaders' evening conversation, the White House did not provide more information than its brief statement.

Earlier in the day, Obama met with about 60 senior representatives of Jewish federations following the cancellation of his appearance at the federations' conference Tuesday.

Speaking at a White House reception, Obama urged the group to address health care legislation making its way through Congress, a major priority of the president.

He also thanked them for the "countless hours of tzedakah [charity] performed every day of every week," according to a statement put out after the event by the Jewish Federations of North America.
Participants told The Jerusalem Post that Obama did not address the issue of Israel or the wider Middle East during his very short remarks, but that several members of the crowd raised the issue with him during his brief appearance in the room.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...icle%2FPrinter

[Amberglass]

Mideast peace, Iranian nuclear file top Obama, Netanyahu agenda
Politics 11/9/2009 11:34:00 AM


Netanyahu - Obama GAZA, Nov 9 (KUNA) -- Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the upcoming Obama-Netanyahu discussions would focus on the Mideast peace process and the Iranian nuclear file.
According to Israeli radio, the sources said that Netanyahu would convey his views about the issues of concern to the US President, adding that Netanyahu would later be meeting with Jewish organizations representatives in Washington and would also convene with a number of US congressmen.
Another top Israeli official, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, will be meeting with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and National Security Advisor James Jones, said the sources.
Netanyahu will also meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on his way back from the US visit.(end) mzt.gta KUNA 091134 Nov 09NNNN

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesP...31&Language=en

[A.T. Hagan]

That turbine sound you hear is AIPAC spinning up its influence machine.

.....Alan.

[Amberglass]

Last update - 19:35 10/11/2009

Netanyahu says meeting with Obama was 'important'

By Natasha Mozgovaya and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

Tags: Israel News, Barack Obama




Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday voiced confidence that his meeting Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington would benefit Israel's security and peacemaking efforts, adding that "I think this visit will turn out to have been very important."

Netanyahu, whose ties with Washington have been strained by Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank, met U.S. President Barack Obama in a hundred-minute closed-door meeting on Monday evening, during which the two discussed Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as stalled Middle East peace talks.

"It was a very focused and very positive conversation," Netanyahu said before departing. "This conversation dealt with the range of subjects that are important for the security of Israel, and for our joint efforts to advance peace."
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After the meeting concluded late Monday, the White House issued a statment saying, "The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Ambassador Michael Oren, National Security Council chief Uzi Arad and Netanyahu's envoy in Washignton Yitzhak Molcho joined the premier for part of the meeting.

A press briefing with Netanyahu scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled. The prime minister was scheduled to leave Washington on Tuesday for Paris, where he is to meet with French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Wednesday.

Prior to the meeting, sources close to Netanyahu said he would tell Obama that he was "very serious" about wanting to advance peace talks with the Palestinians during the two meeting on Monday.

The last-minute scheduling of Netanyahu's White House meeting, after Israeli officials said over the past several weeks that Netanyahu hoped to see Obama, was widely seen as a sign of strained relations between the two leaders.

"We mean business," Netanyahu was to tell the American president, and add that Israel was ready to be "generous" in scaling back the construction in West Bank settlements.

Before sitting down with Netanyahu, Obama and members of his senior staff
visited with Jewish leaders from across the country who were attending the meeting of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Obama thanked the Jewish leaders for their work in their own communities, and recognized the Jewish Federations for the "countless hours of tzedakah (charity) performed every day of every week."

In the past, Netanyahu has rebuffed Obama's calls for a complete freeze on settlement activity, including the expansion of current ones. The Palestinians have demanded a settlement freeze as a condition for the resumption of stalled peace talks. The opposing standpoints have effectively brought the peace process to a halt.

Netanyahu was also going to tell Obama that there was never any Israeli intention to halt settlement construction before entering into talks with the Palestinians. "What more do I need to do?" he was to ask.

Sources close to the prime minister have said that Netanyahu is convinced he is doing everything in his power to advance the peace process.

Netanyahu was also to voice his willingness to make concessions in efforts to achieve an agreement. However, he was to stress his refusal to compromise Israel's security in the process, placing an emphasis on the importance of preventing the influx of weapons into any territory that Israel should withdraw from under a future deal.

He was to add that up until this point, the security arrangements between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and Gaza have proven ineffective.

However, at the State Department, spokesman Ian C. Kelly said the administration's special envoy for Mideast peace, George Mitchell, has no immediate plans to return to the region to continue his push for a resumption of peace talks.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs fielded questions ahead of the Netanyahu-Obama meeting, saying that the "policy of the United States government for many decades has been no more settlements. That's not something that is new to this administration. It's something that I think has gotten disproportionate media coverage, but it's not a policy difference in this administration and previous administrations."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1127029.html

[Ought Six]

The ZOG conspiracy mad tinfoil hatters ought to be reaching escape velocity right about now.

[Mayerling]

I wonder if that is what the president was preparing for at Camp David. i also am willing to bet that President Bush notified President Obama about his wish to visit Fort Hood- he is the type of person who would have extended that courtesy to the President I believe.