When Obama met with Jewish leaders at the White House earlier this week, he was asked about the perceived imbalance in his approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict — the perception that he has made explicit demands on the Israelis while putting no real pressure on the Palestinians or their Arab sponsors. According to one source at the meeting, Obama responded that it was necessary to “restore a sense of even-handedness,” and that the White House has tried to avoid pressuring the Israelis through the press to the extent possible. Obama said that “other than my comment to the Prime Minster and a couple by Hillary,” he and his team have been “disciplined.” In other words, the blame for this public perception that Obama is being tougher on Israel than the Arabs primarily lies with the media and their desire to cover a man bites dog story, but it’s also kind of Hillary’s fault for making a couple of undisciplined comments. The president was clear in his meeting with Jewish leaders that he believes it is necessary for there to be “daylight” between the United States and Israel on the core issues of how best to reach a final settlement, but Hillary may want a little daylight between her and Obama on that issue. As Greg Sargent explains, Hillary’s speech “will hit Arabs for not doing enough.” The key excerpt from the speech:
