Obama didn't come through on his promise to Netanyahu - Yoni Hersch

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

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