If Netanyahu's team were to brief reporters that after the NPT conference,
President Obama THEN made unprecedented commitments to Israel relating to
NPT and Israel the gist of this story line might be understandable.
But instead we have this bizarre situation that we are being told that
before the NPT conference - where the U.S. did not - repeat did not - stop a
resolution specifically against Israel - President Obama gave PM Netanyahu
solemn promises that simply don't jibe with what happened at the conference.
Let's repeat this again, because it is so profoundly puzzling:
Netanyahu's team, in an effort to ostensibly reassure us that everything is
OK with Obama, does this by presenting information that, when one connects
the dots - leads to the opposite conclusion.
There are several possibilities:
#1. This is an extremely sophisticated move as anyone who connects the dots
recognizes that it is a tremendous criticism of President Obama since the
NPT conference vote was bad enough - but now that we know that it came
despite promises from President Obama - it is much worse.
#2. This is a move geared for Israeli [public consumption with the idea that
Israelis will feel better about the Netanyahu administration if they thought
that Netanyahu had some secret understanding with Obama.
#3. The Netanyahu team is hoping for self fulfilling prophecy. By claiming
that Israel has a fantastic understanding with the Obama administration,
maybe it will ultimately reach such an understanding.
And now the odds:
The odds that anyone is doing anything truly sophisticated? Something that
relies on reporters to connect the dots before they send their report over
to the editor? Now that certainly would be a first.
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Israeli State official: Obama provided Israel with historic guarantees
Following NPT conference's unprecedented decision to name Israel as country
whose nuclear facilities must be inspected, with US endorsement, [Israel]
State official claims President Obama provided Netanyahu with unequivocal
assurances for Israel's strategic abilities
Attila Somfalvi YNET Published: 05.30.10, 23:35 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896361,00.html
[Israeli]State officials are trying to send calming messages following the
US's endorsement of a nuclear-free Middle East resolution advanced by the
NPT conference, which named Israel as a country whose facilities must be
placed under inspection. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to
meet US President Barack Obama in the White House later this week amid
recent tensions.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received unequivocal guarantees from
Obama for the State of Israel's preservation of strategic and deterring
abilities," a senior State official said. "These assurances include a
significant upgrade in the history of US-Israel relations in the line of
strategic understandings."
The source noted that the US had effectively promised Israel that no
decision made by the NPT conference would harm Israel's vital interests.
The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on Friday
adopted a detailed plan of small steps down a long road toward nuclear
disarmament, which includes naming Israel as a state whose nuclear
facilities must be placed under inspection.
The 28-page Final Declaration was approved by consensus on the last day of
the month-long conference, convened every five years to review and advance
the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT.
State officials also mentioned that Netanyahu has spent the last couple of
months making sure that the NPT resolution won't have a practical effect on
Israel's security.
"This activity included contacts between the prime minister and the US
president, intense daily contacts between the Prime Minister's Office and
the White House and professional contacts between the Israeli lower
strategic ranks and their American counterparts," the State official said.
He also added that as part of these efforts Netanyahu had decided as early
as April to not attend the NPT conference in Washington and that Defense
Minister Ehud Barak discussed the matter with Obama in the White House
shortly thereafter.
News agencies contributed to this report
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