Israeli president to meet Obama in Washington next week

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JERUSALEM, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington next Monday, a spokeswoman for Israeli President Office said.

Peres will visit the White House during a trip to the United States to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch told Xinhua.

Peres will thus become the first Israeli leader to meet Obama in the White House, preceding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is scheduled to meet Obama in mid-May.

Earlier Tuesday, Ha'aretz daily reported that Netanyahu would complete the review of Israel's policy on the Middle East before his visit to the United States next month.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/29/content_11276233.htm

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1. Mr President

This is the opportunity to let Peres know that there is a change in US/Iraeli relations. We will no longer support every Israeli move unconditionally. We will no longer do what's best only for Israel but also for America's interest and others in the region.

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2. Peres to Meet Obama before Netanyahu’s Visit

President Shimon Peres is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday, three weeks before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet with the American leader. Peres will be substituting for the Prime Minister as the main speaker at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting next week.

Prime Minister Netanyahu last week canceled his plans to attend the AIPAC meeting, but different reports have circulated whether he decided to stay home because he is too busy formulating policies or because President Obama refused to meet him before May 18, the date of his upcoming official visit to the White House.

President Peres’s office said that his American counterpart will meet with him during his trip next week.

President Peres officially has a ceremonial position but has spoken freely in support of the establishment of a new PA state and has been a long-time champion of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Since becoming President, he has reiterated several times that Israel must accept the “two-state solution,” a policy that Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected until the PA is more economically and socially stable.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131093

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3. Former MK Alon: Israel Must be More Independent

(IsraelNN.com) Former MK Benny Alon said Tuesday evening that God miraculously gave Israel an independent state, but that its leaders must act more independently. He called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu not to give into international pressure to accept the formula of Two States for Two Peoples.

“I am not innocent – I know there is international pressure – but we must have long term diplomacy which will give us the maximum amount of independence,” Alon said. “We also must stop receiving non-military aid from the U.S. – we don’t need it.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/164256