tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post370095021329849605..comments2024-03-20T01:06:12.181-04:00Comments on MEI Editor's Blog: Obama-Netanyahu: Why I Haven't Posted YetUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-10159400814106797652009-05-18T20:57:00.000-04:002009-05-18T20:57:00.000-04:00Points I made today on BBC Arabic and English inte...Points I made today on BBC Arabic and English interviews: The Obama Administration has laid out clearly its positions, which the President no doubt reinforced in his meeting with Netanyahu, even if he did not rub it in publicly. The Israeli government position has been evolving and will continue to evolve. <br />Israel has three strategic threats, two of which are readily apparent to both Netanyahu and Obama. They are Iran's nuclear and missile potential and the terrorist threat posed by nearby Hezbollah and Hamas. The third threat, which became obvious to both Sharon and Olmert, is the demographic reality that Jews are a minority and getting to be a smaller minority in the lands Israel controls between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. If Israel demands to be recognized as a Jewish state, as Netanyahu stated in the press conference after his meeting with Obama, they could help matters by withdrawing to within the 1949 borders, where Jews are a large majority. This would also help deal with the threats posed by Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Netanyahu does face a problem of selling this to his right wing governing coalition, but that is a domestic political problem, not a strategic problem. Fortunately, he is an extremely flexible politician, so he could form a new coalition at the center of Israeli politics.David Macknoreply@blogger.com