Looks like Obama will not be making major changes in Israeli/U.S. relations after all.
“At the talks, Obama expressed his deep commitment to Israel’s security and his full adherence to the deep presidential understandings in this area,” the source said.
In 1969, the United States and Israel reached an understanding under which Israel would maintain ambiguity about its nuclear program and would refrain from conducting a nuclear weapons test. In exchange, the U.S. would refrain from pressing Israel to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which would require Israel to give up any military nuclear capabilities it had and place the reactor in Dimona under international supervision. These understandings, which have remained in force to this day, form the basis of Israel’s nuclear policy.
And it looks like the sky, after all, is not falling.
I still think the Obama presidency is going to be a rough ride for Americans (and the rest of the world, as we pull back funding for projects that lose priority, apparently, to ObamaCare). And I think he will push Israel towards yet another peace process dog-and-pony show, with predictable results. But overall, the mainstays of U.S-Israel ties will stay strong.