The Palestinian issue is expected to be a major focus of the White House meeting; Obama believes the current situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is leading to a one-state solution.
Barak Ravid, HAARETZ
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters a government meeting, November 1, 2015. Emil Salman
When the White House starts talking about one state, Netanyahu should worry
Obama, ask Netanyahu straight out: Do you believe in the two-state solution?
Netanyahu’s new spokesman accused Obama of anti-Semitism
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will unveil a series of confidence-building measures toward the Palestinians during his White House meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday, National Security Adviser Joseph Cohen said last week.
Cohen, who made the comment at a meeting with European ambassadors to Israel last Monday, said the measures will relate to both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to several diplomats who were present.
Senior Israeli officials confirmed Cohen’s statement and said he had briefed his American counterpart, Susan Rice, on Netanyahu’s intention during their meeting in Washington last Thursday.
Cohen didn’t specify what steps would be taken, stressing that no final decision had yet been made due to opposition from several cabinet ministers. It’s not clear whether the series of terror attacks in the West Bank last Thursday and Friday will alter Netanyahu’s plans.
Last Sunday, Netanyahu convened the diplomatic-security cabinet to discuss his visit to the United States. He asked the ministers for their suggestions on the issues he will discuss with Obama and briefed them on the defense requests he will present as part of the ongoing negotiations with Washington on upgrading Israel’s military capabilities following the nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu also told the forum he wants to present Obama with a package of confidence-building measures toward the Palestinians that would help stabilize the West Bank. The measures were suggested by the coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, and the head of the army’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Roni Numa.
The package will include steps to reduce friction between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank, such as removing checkpoints and easing movement restrictions on Palestinians. It will also include steps to improve the Palestinian economy — like approving infrastructure projects or approving master plans for Palestinian construction in parts of the West Bank under full Israeli control — and the situation in Gaza.
A senior official who attended the meeting said Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) and Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) both opposed some of the measures Netanyahu proposed. They argued that the Palestinian Authority is inciting to violence against Israel and, therefore, these measures should be conditioned on an end to the incitement.
Nevertheless, the official added, they understood that Netanyahu would have to present some gestures to the Palestinians at his meeting with Obama.
Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and other ministers all argued that, aside from the hope that such gestures would help calm the West Bank, it made sense for the prime minister to come to the White House with a package …read more
Source:: Israpundit
