U.S. President Barack Obama made an unscheduled appearance Tuesday at a meeting between visiting Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the President’s national security advisor, General Jim Jones. The White House did not announce why the President entered.
The brief handshake between the two men may be a gesture in an effort to soothe concerns by the Netanyahu government that the United States is taking too tough a stand with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The leader of the Likud party explicitly has rejected the American demand for a halt to all construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
The Obama government, even if it wants to soften its stand, is not likely to do so now because the President faces a major test on his visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and to Egypt the following day.
His gestures towards the Arab world have raised expectations among Muslims while worrying even relatively dovish Israeli politicians. Defense Minister Barak’s visit is aimed at explaining the government’s position on Jerusalem as well as discussing military defense programs.
As Barak was talking with General Jones, who was unpopular among IDF officials during his tenure as military coordinator with the Palestinian Authority, the Interior Ministry announced plans for a new 200-room hotel in eastern Jerusalem.
American officials did not specifically criticize the project but expressed concern over the plan, which is aimed at attracting Jewish tourists in the part of the city that the PA has demanded be the seat of its proposed PA state.
The Defense Minister is trying to convince aides to President Obama that curbing all construction in Judea and Samaria contradicts previous commitments by former President George W. Bush, who accepted the principle of additional building for natural population growth.