US officials praise Netanyahu moves
HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPost correspondent in WASHINGTON , THE JERUSALEM POST
Jul. 18, 2009
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Obama administration officials praised Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for
steps he has taken to ease the conditions of Palestinians, as a way of
continuing efforts to retool its message so that the onus for progress in
the peace process isn't perceived as lying disproportionately with
Jerusalem.

White House and State Department officials stressed Friday to The Jerusalem
Post that they were pleased by measures that Netanyahu had taken to lift
checkpoints in the West Bank and foster economic growth, as reports from the
region mentioned improved economic and living conditions among Palestinians.
The Israeli government has carried out several such actions in recent weeks
but has felt they have been overlooked by the international community.

"We welcome the steps that Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken to increase
access and movement for Palestinians in the West Bank," a State Department
official told the Post. "While more remains to be done, these are important
steps that will help improve the situation on the ground and help create the
context for the early resumption of negotiations towards a final-status
agreement."

The remarks came the same day that the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Shaikh
Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, penned an opinion piece in The Washington Post
calling on Arab countries to reach out to Israel.

In the piece, titled 'Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis,' he wrote, "we as
Arabs have not done enough to communicate directly with the people of
Israel."

He spoke of the need for better communication between the two countries and
the potential for trade to spring from that foundation. He also referred to
the Arab Peace Initiative and the need to move forward on it, saying,
"Essentially, we have not done a good enough job of demonstrating to
Israelis how our initiative can form part of a peace between equals in a
troubled land holy to three great faiths."

He chided the Israelis as well as the Arabs for not taking sufficient steps
towards peace but said that both sides had used unhelpful rhetoric. "An
Israeli might be forgiven for thinking that every Muslim voice is raised in
hatred, because that is usually the only one he hears," he said. "Just as an
Arab might be forgiven for thinking every Israeli wants the destruction of
every Palestinian."