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Monday, May 4, 2009

Netanyahu adviser: No clash expected between Obama and Netanyahu

(Politico).A top Netanyahu adviser, Ron Dermer, told POLITICO that Obama and Netanyahu share the “bold” instincts to trade traditional, incremental political negotiations for game-changing regional shifts centered on Iran.“There will not be a clash of the titans,” Dermer said of Obama and Netanyahu. “The prime minister of Israel – far from being a prophet of doom – actually believes that peace is possible.”

An American official involved with the relationship with Israel said the U.S. wants to avoid visible rifts, particularly in advance of Netanyahu’s planned May 18 visit to Washington.“Nobody’s interested in a public confrontation,” said the official, who cautioned that that reticence didn’t mean Obama had backed off his push to restart political negotiations toward creating two state