Weekly Commentary: Obama Adopts Netanyahu’s Vision For Remainder of Term
(Economic Peace)?

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 20 May 2015

Read this carefully because it might mark a dramatic shift by President
Obama for the remainder of his term:

“And what I think at this point, realistically, we can do is to try to
rebuild trust -- not through a big overarching deal, which I don't think is
probably possible in the next year, given the makeup of the Netanyahu
government, given the challenges I think that exist for President Abbas --
but if we can start building some trust around, for example, relieving the
humanitarian suffering inside of Gaza and helping the ordinary people in
Gaza to recover from the devastation that happened last year; if we can do
more to create business opportunities and jobs inside the territories – if
we can slowly rebuild that kind of trust, then I continue to believe that
the logic of a two-state solution will reassert itself.”
President Barack Obama interviewed by Al Arabiya Friday, 15 May 2015

Instead of Palestinian “trust “in Israel being built by Israeli concessions
we have trust via the pursuit of what has been termed here in Israel
“economic peace”.

And the beauty of “economic peace” is that this is something all Israelis
can embrace.

In fact, I daresay that when we talk about the nuts and bolts of advancing
“economic peace” that there are far more people from the national camp
already involved in economic activity with Palestinians and eager to play a
role in advancing “economic peace” than in the Left.

Advancing “economic peace” also requires an allocation of resources to
facilitate economic expansion – for example via investment in infrastructure
(including sophisticated inspection technologies) to streamline the moment
of goods between the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Israel and the world.

If Mr. Obama’s remarks truly reflect a change in approach this represents an
important development for the mutual benefit of both Palestinians and
Israelis.
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