Obama in fresh push for Mideast peace

Obama in fresh push for Mideast peace
By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
Published: July 6 2010 14:03 | Last updated: July 6 2010 14:03
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9c25ce20-88ef-11df-8925-00144feab49a.html


Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Barack Obama, US president, in Washington on Tuesday, in a fresh bid to iron out differences between the US and Israel and revive the faltering Middle East peace process.

The Israeli prime minister was originally expected at the White House more than a month ago, but Mr Netanyahu was forced to cut short his visit to deal with the diplomatic fall-out from Israel’s deadly attack on the Gaza aid flotilla.

The raid on May 31 – in which nine Turkish activists were killed by Israeli naval commandos – sparked widespread condemnation of the government. The backlash has since led to the partial lifting of Israel’s long-running blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamist Hamas group.

Israel’s policy towards Gaza is expected to be one item on the agenda when the two leaders meet.

A more pressing issue, however, is what to do about Mr Netanyahu’s partial and temporary freeze on expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The freeze was announced last November, and billed as a gesture towards the Palestinians in order to help restart peace talks.

The building moratorium – which activists say has been widely ignored by the settlers – is due to expire in September. Settler leaders and rightwing politicians are clamouring for an ambitious campaign to build thousands of new homes once the freeze expires.

Restarting settlement construction on a large scale would deal a severe blow to the low-level US-moderated peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, which opened two months ago but appears to be making little headway.

Israeli analysts, in any case, expect Mr Obama to call for a continuation of the partial settlement freeze – creating scope for fresh disagreement between Washington and its old ally.

Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said he is keen to start direct peace talks with the Palestinian leadership, and will be looking for US endorsement for such a move. It is a step that Palestinian officials are understood to be reluctant to take, however, as they want to keep the US as closely involved as possible in the latest round of diplomacy.