Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that the meeting between the Prime Minister and U.S. President Barack Obama was a good beginning to relations between the two governments. “I am of the impression that a serious dialogue is beginning, in the matter of the diplomatic process in the region as well,” Barak told Army Radio.

“I was happy to hear that President Obama has endorsed the initiative for a comprehensive regional agreement,” he said. The Defense Minister, who also heads the Labor party, asserted before the meeting in Washngton that the Prime Minister would agree to President's demand for immediate acceptance of the need to establish a new Palestinian Authority state. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not change his policy that the PA first needs to show it is capable of self-governing and of wanting to exist alongside a Jewish state.

Barak was not worried about the U.S. administration’s reluctance to set a deadline for talks with Iran about its nuclear program. He said that Israel should let the U.S. carry out the diplomatic dialogue it seeks. “It needs to be clear, however, that this is a dialogue that is intended for finding out if it is possible to block the Iranian’s effort to achieve nuclear weapons,” he explained.  

'Israel should receive, not just give'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with Barak last night and updated him on his meetings with Obama. Netanyahu spoke with reporters and expressed a favorable opinion of Obama’s initiative for an ‘upgraded’ Arab Peace Plan with confidence building measures. He called the idea ‘interesting’ and said that he hopes moderate Arab countries sign on.

Netanyahu also said: “I discovered that the President has great understanding for our concept that as part of the peace process, Israel should also receive some things and not just give things,” he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon noted that Obama did not say anything that previous presidents had not already stated. “The very fact that the two leaders agreed not to agree and came out with a joint press statement gives a good basis to build upon.”