Iran was the only subject on the Obama-Netanyahu, Gates-Barak agendas
(Contrary to reported rift by some Prophecy Sites on "missed" photo op)
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
November 12, 2009, 11:15 AM (GMT+02:00)
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrives at White House
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama focused on the single subject of Iran when they met in Washington Monday, Nov. 9 - as did Netanyahu and French president Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 11. Iran also occupied the meeting between defense minster Ehud Barak and US defense secretary Robert Gates Monday. DEBKAfile's Washington sources disclose that briefings to the media and joint communiqués were disallowed for the sake of blacking out the content of the conversations Israeli leaders held in Washington and Paris.
Leaked reports that the Palestinian issue and Mahmoud Abbas' future were discussed in Washington and peace talks with Syria in Paris were window-dressing, as were the power games widely reported as leading up to the Netanyahu's reception at the White House.
The conversation in Sarkozy's private apartment at the Elysee was a continuation of Netanyahu's talks with Obama two days earlier and marked their coalescence around the next steps on Iran.
Back home, the defense minister stressed the importance of "not discounting the peace signals coming of late from Syria" and said that "many barriers fell" at the Netanyahu-Obama meeting "recreating a good foundation for renewing the peace process and reaching accord with our Palestinian neighbors."
This statement was part of the smoke screen set up by mutual consent to conceal the content of Barak and the prime minister's overseas meetings. It was necessary to addressing the minister's need to bolster his shaky position as leader of the left-leaning Labor party and lift Israel's image in Europe which is fixated on the Palestinian issue.
At the same time, a very senior American official told DEBKAfile that his description of falling barriers between President Obama and prime minister was spot on and deserved a full stop. The rest of his comment applied to Israeli politics.
