US President Barack Obama believes that the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace by advancing the two-State formula have suffered a setback with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent comments that there will be no separate Palestinian State under his watch. Although Netanyahu, in the face of stinging US criticism, sought to clarify the issue, Obama said on Tuesday that the Israeli leader has listed a series of conditions that it is “hard to envision” the creation of a Palestinian State.
Netanhyahu’s conditions were “such that they would be impossible to meet anytime soon”, Obama said in reply to a question during a joint news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani after their meeting. Even if one were to accept Netanyahu’s clarification of his election-eve assertion, Obama felt there does not appear to be the prospect of a meaningful framework towards creation of a Palestinian State even if a slew of conditions and security requirements might be phased in over a long period of time.
The latest spat notwithstanding, Obama took the stand that the differences between him and Netanyahu were by no means personal. “I have a very business-like relationship with the (Israeli) Prime Minister. I’ve met with him more than any other world leader. I talk to him all the time,” Obama said. He is representing his country’s interests the way he thinks he needs to, and I’m doing the same, US President added.
As he put it, the issue really poses “a very clear, substantive challenge”, adding: “We believe that two States is the best path forward for Israel’s security, for Palestinian aspirations, and for regional stability. That’s our view, and that continues to be our view. And Prime Minister Netanyahu has a different approach.”