Monday May 18, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

I just got the news that the Bibi Netanyahu/Barack Obama meeting is scheduled to last for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

It will begin with a face-to-face tete-a-tete.
That's very unusual, it is also a very good move.
It means Obama and Netanyahu will meet and greet without staff.
It means they will do what they each do best - allow themselves to be themselves in a one-on-one situation.
They will be able to deliver their messages without posturing and without the input of others.

Netanyahu's national security advisor set up this Washington visit, coordinating everything through an advance trip. On Sunday he went on the record laying out what he understands to be to most essential issues that Israel will be addressing.

# 1: Iran. Not just the threat of Iran, but also the US approach to Iran.
# 2: The Palestinian State. Israel's prime minister will explain that immediately after Ariel Sharon gave Gaza over to the Palestinians the area was transformed into a haven of terror and a center for Hamas. He will stress that unless the PA accepts both control and responsibility what happened in Gaza will happen in the West Bank.
Netanyahu will probably use expressions like, "this is not rocket science" and "this will be a direct threat to the very existence of Israel and that is unacceptable."

Obama will just listen.
At a future date he will have his staff present the themes the United States wants to see evolving over the next few months.

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