Interesting meet

US President Barack Obama has now surprisingly admitted publicly that his four-year Syrian intervention has so far failed, and Russia, in turn, launched an impressive offensive against opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Yet, the attention in the coming days will most likely focus on Obama’s meeting, next month, with the discredited Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost a humiliating fight with the US and four European nations over a deal they reached with Iran on its nuclear ambitions.

The ongoing turbulence engulfing Israel and the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and even within Israel, has meanwhile reached high levels; it is being described as a third Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

UNRWA last Monday condemned the recent murder and injury of Palestinians by Israeli security forces the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, largely populated by Palestinians, where over 278 Palestinians were killed, in addition to hundreds of others in the West Bank.

The UN agency reminded Israelis that security forces should use firearms against individuals only in certain situations, including “self-defence or defence of others against imminent threat of death or serious injury”.

It added: “An entire generation of Palestinians is at risk. All political actors must act decisively to restore their hope in a dignified, secure and stable future.”

In a statement slamming Israel’s recent actions, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of an international rights group declared: “Indiscriminate or deliberate firing on observers and demonstrators who pose no imminent threat violates the international standards that bind Israeli security forces.”

The November 9 visit will be Netanyahu’s first to Washington after his failed arrogant attempt to torpedo the agreement with Iran in a shameless appearance before the US Congress that ultimately supported Obama’s praiseworthy step, which was also criticised by influential American Jewish groups, including the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.

The upcoming meeting is bound to focus in part on mending the poor relationship between the two leaders following the deal with Iran, which curtails its nuclear programme in exchange for some sanctions relief, and on the ongoing violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and even inside Israel.

This is a golden opportunity for Obama, who has little more than one year left in office, to push Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians who have been under harsh Israeli occupation for nearly 50 years — an ugly situation that merits immediate attention.

Obviously, this may be very difficult for a right-wing Israeli government that has many partners adept at expansionism — as evidenced in the growing number of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank — who may be reluctant to take any serious steps towards ending the occupation.

Netanyahu should nevertheless be encouraged by his American patron to define Israel’s borders. This should also be followed by eliminating forthwith the illegal Israeli settlements.

Gilead Sher, a former Israeli senior peace negotiator and prime minister’s chief of staff, lamented last week in an article published by the Washington-based Brookings institution that “we are being dragged into a choice between a Jewish-dominated apartheid-like state and a shared unitary, Jewish-Palestinian state”, adding that “preservation of the status quo runs counter to the Israeli interest”.

He added: “The new framework should include a regional dialogue broadly based on the Arab Peace Initiative [endorsed by 22 Arab states] and bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians.”

But it is unlikely that Netanyahu will be able to twist the arms of his extremist colleagues in the government, which might prompt him to dissolve his Cabinet and try to form a new government if the Knesset renews his term in office.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu reportedly “sabotaged” the mission of a delegation of Mideast Quartet diplomats who were set to arrive in the occupied territories to help end the ongoing violence there.

“The Israelis told us that this is not a good time to talk about diplomatic matters,” a Western diplomat told the Israeli media last Monday after reports that the Quartet envoys had been told by Netanyahu to cancel their trip to the occupied territories this week.

In other words, Obama may have a tough encounter next month. It remains to be seen whether he finds it in him to be firm.

The writer is a Washington-based columnist.