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Nahum Barnea

A question of trust

Creation of trust vis-à-vis Obama is Netanyahu’s immediate mission

WASHINGTON - The meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a fascinating event, and possibly an important one as well. It is doubtful whether we would be able to grasp its full significance today or in the next few days.

 

Elliott Abrams, formerly a senior official in the Bush administration, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on the eve of the visit that people tend to make up their mind on others in the first 30 seconds of their meeting. He wondered which conclusion Obama will draw after the first minute in Netanyahu’s presence.

 

Yet Abrams is not necessarily right. Following his first meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, President Bush said: “I looked the man in the eye; I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy.” Bush was wrong, of course, and so was Rabin, who after his first meeting with Bill Clinton in 1992 reached the conclusion that the US president is immature, weak, and not serious.

 

Moreover, Obama and Netanyahu have already met before. Most of all, Obama is surrounded by some people who are convinced they know Netanyahu well, and that he is not trustworthy.

 

Trust is Netanyahu’s greatest problem. The creation of trust is the immediate mission. Not the question of two states and not even the Iranian issue. Should he create trust, it will be easier for him to convince the administration on the Iranian question, and possibly even on the Palestinian issue.

 

If one compares the Obama administration to the Bush administration, there is no doubt that Israel had been relegated; it commands less importance, less intimacy, less goodwill, and less respect.

 

At the same time, it is too early to say whether this is significant. Presidents develop into their post. The same is true for prime ministers. In nine months or a year, Obama may find himself at a wholly different place than where he stands now – and the same could be true for Netanyahu.

 

Had Netanyahu asked for my advice ahead of his meeting, I would tell him: Stand up for what you believe in on the issues you are convinced of. Do not apologize. Do not get smart. And most importantly, do not wink. There is nothing more harmful than a wink in the first meeting.

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.18.09, 16:45
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