With the current crises in Israel, great are the expectations from US President Barack Obama’s Israel visit. It is supposed that the visit is designed to understand Iran’s suspected desire of making itself a capital of nuclear weapons, which the country mentions is for peaceful purposes. This visit also aims at solving discords between Israel and Palestinians, but originally, it is a backdoor plot to stamp good image in the hearts of Israelis.
This visit is very crucial since the President’s aims to create grounds for mutual respect before he jumps to reconcile the two-state solution. Obama is bending on recreating his image with the Israelis. He is supposed to visit the Jewish roots so as to give the feel of attachment to the people. The President shall also visit the exhibits of the Dead Sea scroll and pay respect at the grave of Zionist Theodore Herzl.
After landing in Jerusalem on Wednesday he noted his purpose of visit as kindling broken bonds and igniting unwavering faith of Israel towards US. The goal is to repair relationships and resettling the troubled relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the Israeli people never accepted Obama as a positive icon as the rest of the world did and always remained skeptic of US’s notions, this trip might be the best thing to do in the circumstances. Since 2009, the Cairo Speech by the President commenting over anti-Semitism and holocaust unsettled Israelis; he has been finding ways to take his words back. He stated that Israelis are a result of holocaust rather than ancient Jewish lands.
However, this time Obama took the necessary measures to mend the mistake done once. His opening speech greeted Israelis saying “more than 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people lived here, tended the land here, prayed to God here”. It was the very important first step towards creating Israeli affirmation towards Obama.
Another issue has been that the Israelite prime minister has also taken extreme advantage of Obama’s unpopularity. After his suspension, his government extended Israeli settlement on the west bank, thus creating more problems to the making of a new Palestinians state. His timing of the visit is politically favorable. The President has been successful in wooing the Israeli crowds. The White House has also been backing his efforts since the press secretary Jay Carney forwarded his compliments and greeted the Israeli public over their new government. The visit of the president can be more efficiently understood as building natural base for further diplomatic issues to come and the road that Obama is walking will definitely make a difference in Israeli soils. Also, Netanyahu has been using Obama’s unpopularity as trump card to win favors with his people. However, if Obama’s visit is able to produce the desired effect, then the Israeli public will definitely pick his side and the old poor image could be mended.
