The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has a fascinating report on the administration's attempts, via talks with Democratic legislators, to preempt the influence of the right-wing Netanyahu government here in the U.S. The White House expects the new Israeli government to lobby Congress to accept the continued construction of Israeli settlements and less of an emphasis on Palestinian statehood.
American supporters of the Netanyahu position are already pressing their case, as Elliott Abrams, a former deputy national security adviser under President Bush, does today in a Washington Post op-ed. So far, there is good evidence that Obama will have a stiff(er) spine when dealing with conservative Israel supporters who seem to have no qualms about the reactionary positions of the country's new government. In Istanbul Monday, the president stated, "I say the same thing to my Jewish friends -- you have to see the perspective of the Palestinians. Learning to stand in someone else's shoes, to see through their eyes ... this is how peace begins."
--Dana Goldstein
