by Yoni Hersch
Hat tip: Jean-Charles Bensoussan
Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross writes in new book that in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran had one year to engage in negotiations before he increased sanctions against the regime.
Former U.S. Special Envoy to
the Middle East Dennis Ross
|
Photo credit: Dudi Vaaknin |
Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East
Dennis Ross, one of U.S. President Barack Obama's closest advisers
during his first term, has published a new book in which he discusses
dissent among the American leadership, particularly about the Iranian
nuclear deal and other military issues.
Extracts from the book, "Doomed to Succeed:
The US-Israeli relationship from Truman to Obama," were published on the
Politico website on Thursday, and indicate that the dispute in the U.S.
administration between the supporters of containment and the supporters
of attacking if necessary created confusion in Israel.
According to Ross, the "mixed messages" led to
Israeli complaints, because the Israelis understood that they stemmed
from a fundamental disagreement on preventing Iran from achieving
nuclear weapons capability versus "containing" that capability.
Ross also writes that in May 2009, in one of
their first meetings, Obama explained to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu the need to make an effort to engage Iran, and stressed that
"if nothing happened before the end of the first year, [the U.S.] would
pivot toward sanctions" -- a promise that Obama did not end up keeping.
In 2013, after his role in the administration
had ended, Ross visited Israel and was summoned to Netanyahu's
residence, arriving just as the prime minister was on a call with Obama.
"I was struck by how alone Netanyahu felt,"
Ross writes. "He believed the United States had given up all its
leverage in this deal and the sanctions would now collapse of their own
weight."
Ross says that Netanyahu told him that the president "felt politics ruled out the use of force and therefore required a deal."
The former special envoy writes that he
insisted that this was not what Obama had meant, and even spoke with
Secretary of State John Kerry so he could correct Netanyahu's
impression, but the White House chose not to do anything.
Ross also points a finger at U.S. National
Security Adviser Susan Rice: "There was no call from [Rice], there was
no follow-up from the president, and the prime minister did not soften
his public criticism."
According to Ross, although the administration was left
with a consensus about policy on Iran, the process caused unnecessary
damage to the U.S.'s relations with Israel.
Yoni Hersch
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28771
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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