Radio France Internationale – Theme of the Day
RFI: The situation in the Middle East has always been complex, what are the mechanisms now available to president Barak Obama to try to convince prime minister Netanyahu to accept the proposal he is making to relaunch a new peace process in the Middle East?
Grant Smith: Obama is trying to break with the past and have everything out in the open. Before, in the Bush administration, the Clinton administration, the administrations of Reagan and Carter, there were always secret accords between the United States and Israel. Obama was very explicit the last time he spoke to the US leaders of the Israel lobby like AIPAC when he said basically “look, these secrets and private accords didn’t produce any progress toward peace during the Bush administration, so, from now on, we’re going to have more openness in the relationship, and if there are conflicts, these will have to be aired, not hidden.” Full Interview (MP3) (Foreign Language)