Netanyahu. 'Israel increasingly isolated'
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Bieber during Israel show
Photo: Yaron Brener
Bibi, Bieber on Time's most influential list
'Hard to read' PM makes it onto list on which teen singer, Nasrallah, and Obama also appear
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among the 100 most influential people of 2011, according to Time Magazine.
Hassan Nasrallah, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber are also on the list, as well as world leaders such as US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
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Richard Haass, president of the Council of Foreign Relations and formerly a senior US State Department official, wrote in his article that Israel's prime minister faces "singular challenges".
"Israel is an economic success; its citizens feel relatively safe behind a security wall. But it is increasingly isolated. Most of the world views Israel as the principal obstacle to Middle East peace. Momentum is mounting in the UN to declare a Palestinian state this fall. Many Israelis fear the terms and consequences," Haass wrote.
He also referred to internal strife in Israel, writing that "Bibi, 61, heads an unwieldy coalition government designed more for domestic politics than diplomacy."
"I find him hard to read. He is on record supporting a demilitarized Palestinian state. But few details have been filled in. We will soon learn more. Nothing less than his legacy - and more important, the future of
the Jewish state - is at stake," he wrote.
Other politicians on Time's list include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, as well as the son of the rebuffed Libyan leader, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi. The magazine also lists blushing bride Kate Middleton, set to marry Prince William in a few days.
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