Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly commended Obama's speech in a statement issued by his bureau. In private conversations, however, he expressed disappointment at what he saw as a soft stance on Iran's nuclear ambitions. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
Appears that some of Netanyahu's staffers were given freedom to leak the prime minister's private thoughts on the speech to Haaretz. The paper made an honest attempt to balance this with Obama's post-speech remarks, but only got so far. Nevertheless, helpful to have another layer of Israeli perspective.
“Just as so many Palestinians lost confidence and faith that the process can move forward, I think many Israelis lost confidence that they will ever be recognized by Arab states or there will be security,” he continued. “So I believe Netanyahu will recognize the strategic need to deal with this issue and in some ways he may have an opportunity that a Labor or a left leader might not have.”
