Shimon Peres is set to give Obama a petition signed by 200,000 Israelis urging the same thing. In The Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall) today, by contrast, Bret Stephens urges: “Don’t Free Jonathan Pollard: A man who betrayed his country is no martyr to the Jewish people.”
Likud minister Gilad Erdan, at the airport, says Obama will find a new government here, full of good intentions, sharing the US worldview. Channel 2’s Udi Segal notes, by contrast, that Obama would really want to say to the new Israeli government, “End the occupation,” but almost certainly won’t say anything that blunt.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel with Defense Minister Ehud Barak after a meeting at the Pentagon, March 5 (photo credit: Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo/DOD)
New word — breaking just now — is that US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is to visit here next month — doubtless with Iran, again, very high on the agenda. The timing of the Obama visit, analysts say, is very Iran-linked too. Netanyahu had spoken last fall of this spring as being the moment of truth on Iran. Obama wants to make sure, face-to-face, that the prime minister isn’t about to do anything unexpected, and that the US and Israel are as coordinated as they can be.
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