Israelis unsure of U.S. support

TEL AVIV | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in the United States this week, but he might not see President Obama.

Ten months into the Obama administration, persistent tension with Mr. Netanyahu has eroded the president’s standing among Israelis. They are giving him low grades for his initial, unsuccessful foray into Middle East peacemaking and feel slighted that he hasn’t shown them as much empathy he has shown their Arab neighbors.

Though Israelis still see the United States as their most important ally and many view Mr. Obama positively, the president is nonetheless faulted by both supporters and detractors for not reaching out to the Israeli public as he publicly sparred with Mr. Netanyahu over Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Related article: Obama to meet Monday with Netanyahu

The criticism is reflected in two recent surveys, which suggested that among Israeli Jews, only about 6 percent of respondents see Mr. Obama’s Middle East policy as “pro-Israeli.”

Many Israelis say that Mr. Obama is perceived as taking a harsh tone with the Jewish state while trying to appease Arab public opinion.

Though it’s not too late for him to make a gesture to win over Israeli hearts and minds, time may be running out before public opinion hardens.

“My greatest fear is that Israelis are going to think that instead of [Obama] being the shoulder we can cry on, like a big sister, we’re going to feel attacked by his demands, no matter how correct they are,” said Tami Shroitman, a 37-year-old urban planner who voted for the left-of-center Labor Party in the last election. “They’re going to stop believing in him, and it’s going to be eight more years lost.”

Mr. Obama’s push to restart peace talks snagged on his demand for a full halt on Israeli building in the West Bank, which provoked a rare standoff with Mr. Netanyahu and prompted the Palestinians to make a settlement freeze a condition for renewing talks.

With the gaps still wide, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton a week ago began lowering expectations on negotiations and praised what Israel is prepared to do - namely, not constructing new settlements in the West Bank, but putting no limits on construction in East Jerusalem - as an “unprecedented” concession. That comment infuriated Palestinians, who refuse to resume talks while the construction continues. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, citing the deadlock, said he would not seek another term in elections scheduled for January.

Israelis weren’t necessarily impressed by Mrs. Clinton’s words either, because they saw the remarks as inconsistent with previous U.S. statements.

Israeli public opinion has shifted rightward in recent years because of failed peace talks and unilateral withdrawals in Gaza and Lebanon that have resulted in increased rocket attacks on Israel and that are now perceived by many Israelis as a mistake. The previous administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did not publicly push Israeli officials to make compromises.

Still, a Hebrew University poll from August suggests that Israelis are still looking for U.S. leadership. Fifty-nine percent said they want Mr. Obama to play either the same or stronger role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as he is currently. The same poll found that a 37 percent plurality of Israelis believe strong involvement by Mr. Obama will bring progress, compared with 33 percent who expect the peace efforts to fail.

Israelis recoil, however, at the idea of outsiders imposing a deal. The same poll said Israelis overwhelmingly oppose U.S. pressure to accept an Arab League peace initiative, which calls for a full withdrawal from territories occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war in return for full normalization of relations with Arab states.

Mr. Obama addressed Israelis on Saturday night in a video message played at the annual memorial rally in Tel Aviv for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by a Jewish extremist in 1995.

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