Obama's Message to Israel

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In The Media

Obama's Message to Israel

Obama's speech to the Muslim world focused on two of the main obstacles to making progress on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute: violence by Palestinians against Israelis and settlement acitvities by Israelis in the West Bank.

By Michele Dunne

Published on Jun 5, 2009

Source: CBS News

President Obama's call for a stop to Israeli settlements in Gaza has set off some political sparks. Michele Dunne explains the administrations motivation for doing so, "One of the things that President Obama did in his speech, was he talked about two of the main obstacles to making progress on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, which are: violence by Palestinians against Israelis and settlement acitvities by Israelis in the West Bank. Those have really deprived Israelis, on one hand, and Palestinians on the other, of confidence in the two-state solution. So I think that Obama thought it was really necessary to lay out the settlement issue as an obtsacle."

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Recent Work

Research
Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
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Research
From Hardware to Holism: Rebalancing America’s Security Engagement With Arab States
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Foreign Policy North America United States Middle East Israel Palestine

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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