Obama tries to assuage Jewish concerns over US Middle East policy

President Barack Obama has tried to reassure Jews in the United States that his administration's commitment to Israel remained "unshakable" despite recent tensions between Jerusalem and Washington. In a letter written by Obama to Alan Solow, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and quoted by the Israeli newspapers ‘Jerusalem Post’ and ‘Haaretz’, Obama highlights the "special relationship with Israel, and that will not change.”

He adds: "Our countries are bound together by shared values, deep and interwoven connections, and mutual interests. Many of the same forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States and our efforts to secure peace and stability in the Middle East. Our alliance with Israel serves our national security interests.”
 
“As we continue to strive for lasting peace agreements between Israel, the Palestinians, and Israel’s neighbors, all sides should understand that our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable and that no wedge will be driven between us. We will have our differences, but when we do, we will work to resolve them as close allies,” the president writes.
 
He continues: “For over 60 years, American presidents have believed that pursuing peace between Arabs and Israelis is in the national security interests of the United States.” He also addressed the peace negotiations, asserting that he would not impose “peace from the outside; it must be negotiated directly by the leaders who are required to make the hard choices and compromises that take on history.”

Last week, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder wrote an open letter to Obama in which he lamented the “the dramatic deterioration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel” in recent months. Obama’s letter to Solow was the first official reaction by the White House on criticism by Jewish organizations in America of the president’s handling of US-Israeli relations.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Obama administration's demands to freeze construction in the eastern part of Jerusalem. The Prime Minister's Bureau responded on Thursday to a ‘Wall Street Journal’ report that the Israeli government had delivered over the weekend its most substantive response yet to that US request. According to the report, Netanyahu did agree to a number of peace-building measures demanded by the Obama administration, including the release of some Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, an ease on Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and efforts toward improving Palestinian movement in the West Bank.