The first 60 days of President Obamas presidency have been a mad scramble to keep up with the nations daunting economic developments.
Its not hard to see why such crucial international issues as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Israel and the Palestinians have been placed, at least temporarily, on back burners.
During Obamas nationally televised press conference last Tuesday, however, the busy president did manage to squeeze a few minutes of pointed Middle East discussion into a dialogue that was dominated by the limping economy and his administrations efforts to put it back on its feet.
When a reporter from a French news agency asked Obama to weigh the peace implications of Benjamin Netanyahus ascendancy to Israels highest office, and the appointment of hardliner Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister, the president struck a tone somewhere between politically careful and confidently defiant.
While qualifying that the final makeup of Israels government remains unclear, and that the same might be said of any future Palestinian composition, Obama acknowledged that recent political developments in Israel signal that the drive for peace is not easier than it was but just as necessary.
Despite the efforts of some pundits to take the not easier comment as a slam against Netanyahu, both comments are really no-brainers.
Most observers, whether on the left or right, will agree that peace is necessary, even while arguing forcefully over how best to achieve it.
Obamas belief that the Netanyahu-Lieberman approach might make things not easier when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian peace is also fairly logical.
Netanyahu forewent a strong coalition deal with the rival Kadima party precisely because he refused to commit himself to a two-state solution.
Lieberman while committed to a two-state solution remains such a divisive figure in Israel, and especially among Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, that its hard to envision him playing any significant role in the realm of peacemaking.
Yet Obama and this is where a tone of defiance could be faintly heard emphasized that when it comes to relations between Israelis and Palestinians, the status quo is unsustainable.
In case that phrase might be misinterpreted, the president made it perfectly clear:
It is critical for us to advance a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in their own states with peace and security.
That is, at face value, no longer an astonishing thing for an American president to say. When the PLO routinely denied Israels right to exist, no American president countenanced the idea of an independent Palestinian state. However, since President Bill Clinton, the two-state solution has been American policy.
The significance of Obama saying so was in the timing. Coming on the very day that Netanyahu managed to persuade Israels Labor Party to join his coalition, thus achieving a sufficient majority to form a government, Obama was speaking directly to the new Israeli prime minister as much as he was to the world.
The implied message was clear: You oppose a two-state solution and I support it. How are we going to work this out?
As if giving Netanyahu a helpful hint, Obama wrapped up his answer with a brief monologue on the subject of persistence. He applied the word both to his efforts to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to reach peace and his campaign to persuade Iran to give up its dream of nuclear weapons.
That whole philosophy of persistence, he said, is one that Im going to be emphasizing again and again in the months and years to come, as long as Im in this office. Im a big believer in persistence.
So is Netanyahu, if our memory of his previous positions of responsibility are accurate.
In sum: the comfortable, cozy American-Israeli relationship that flourished under Bush just might be starting to grow a bit chillier. We sense inclement, if not stormy, weather ahead.
To avoid such conflict among allies, or at least to ameliorate the worst of it, we can offer a dram or two of practical advice.
To Obama, we advise that patience makes a perfectly compatible companion to persistence. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict didnt fester in a day, and wont be lanced in one, as several presidential predecessors have discovered to their frustration. Be persistent, but not impatient.
To Netanyahu, we say that while your firm no to a two-state approach was wise in the past, it might not be now, though we do like your strong record in reviving Israels economy and see the sense in trying to do the same for the Palestinians. Explain yourself to Obama. Be firm, but not intrasigent.
