Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 20/12 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 1. – 13. November 2012 1. Obama gewinnt US-Wahlen Nach der Wiederwahl von US-Präsident Barack Obama, wird in den israelischen Medien die Bedeu­tung seiner zweiten Amtszeit für Israel und insbe­sondere für Premierminister Benjamin Netanyahu diskutiert. Die Beziehung der beiden gilt als belastet. Spannungen hatten sich sowohl bezüglich des Frie­densprozesses mit den Palästinensern als auch bezüglich des Umgangs mit Iran und seinem Nukle­arprogramm ergeben. Zudem hatte Netanyahu sei­ne Unterstützung für Obamas Gegenkandidaten Mitt Romney, der wie Netanyahu Spenden von dem Milliardär Sheldon Adelson erhielt, deutlich gemacht. Nach den Wahlen gratulierte Netanyahu Obama und bezeichnete die Allianz zwischen Israel und den USA als„stärker als jemals zuvor“. Israel, the Jews and a second Obama term “There have always been fears by some anal ysts that once Obama was unrestrained by domestic political considerations(no more elections to run), he could pursue his real ideological agenda, both domestically and internationally. Given his history as a community organizer, his background in the Mus­lim world, his commitment to redistribution policies both here and abroad, and his past close relation­ships with many people who are or were bitter foes of the State of Israel[…], that agenda could take a darker turn with regard to Israel, and seek to funda­mentally alter the historic relationship between the two countries.” Richard Baehr, IHY 08.11.12 Obama better for Israel “ History has taught us that Republican administra­tions, due to the traditional support of the American Jewish community for the Democratic Party, tend not to be overly attentive to Israel's wishes and statements. For example, President George W. Bush did not authorize the sale to Israel of weapons systems that would make an attack on Iran possible. Obama has already provided us with these aerial weapons systems.” Ron Ben-Yishai, JED 05.11.12 Obama’s test “ The second-biggest loser in the U.S. elections was […] Netanyahu, who signaled clearly that he was hoping for Obama to be defeated. That turned out to be a double mistake- gross intervention in the dem­ocratic process of Israel's greatest, practically only friend, and betting on the wrong side. Politicians are meant to pay for making such mis­takes. Since the prime minister has already brought foward the election, the job of declaring no­confidence in Netanyahu has fallen to the voters.” HAA 08.11.12 Editorial Fill your sandbags “Obama’s re-election means that Ehud Olmert is going to run against Prime Minister Benjamin Net­anyahu in the upcoming Jan. 2013 Israeli election. […] Obama is going to intervene aggressively in our election to boost Olmert. It means that a push for immediate Palestinian statehood is back on the international agenda. Most worrisome of all, it means that an American‘grand bargain’ with the Iranians, possibly at our expense, is on the table. […] There are a myriad of ways in which Obama and his emissaries can make it clear to the Israeli voter that U.S.-Israel relations will suffer if Netanyahu is re­elected. They know that Israeli voters fear U.S.­Israel conflict.” David Weinberg, IHY 07.11.12 Obama and Israel “Regarding Iran, Obama might ultimately be more disposed than Romney to use military means if necessary. Romney, who would likely be perceived by the 1