Haaretz is reporting that in recent days, officials from the Obama Administration have been briefing Congressional Democrats that they expect a clash with Israel’s new Netanyahu-led government over the Palestinian peace process. It was speculated that the briefing was an attempt to preempt an attempt by Netanyahu to bypass the administration and lobby Congress directly.
Though the new Israeli government has only been in power for around a week, their Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has already twice spoken out publicly against the US peace initiative, first opposing the Annapolis Conference commitment to a two-state solution, then today declaring the peace process had reached “a dead end.”
During a visit to Ankara yesterday, President Obama pledged to continue to pursue a two-state solution in the long-standing conflict. The previous Israeli administration had publicly embraced the same policy, though the peace talks had yielded no lasting solution and the unpopularity of the Olmert Administration eventually forced them out of office.