Obama the Sphinx

"Obama added, 'One of the things that struck me when I went to Israel was how much more open the debate was around these issues in Israel than they are sometimes here in the United States. It's very ironic.'"

Mark Landler wrote in the New York Times last week that Obama had "signaled no major shift in American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue."

But Michael Hirsh wrote for Newsweek that Obama's comments at the State Department "signaled strongly that his approach to the Mideast would immediately move from unswerving and unquestioning support of Israel, as seen in the last eight years, to more of a broker's role. While making the requisite commitment to Israel's security--and its right to respond to rocket fire from Gaza--he also said it was unacceptable to permit 'a future without hope for the Palestinians.' He called for an immediate opening of the Gaza border, which must have come to a surprise to those Israelis lulled to sleep by Bush's permanent endorsement of Israel's every action over the last eight years."

Michael D. Shear and Glenn Kessler write in The Washington Post about Obama's Al-Arabiya interview: "Obama reiterated U.S. support for Israel, calling it 'a strong ally of the United States' and saying he will 'continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount.'

"But in tone, his comments were a stark departure from those of former president George W. Bush, who often described the Middle East conflict in terms that drew criticism from Palestinians.

"By contrast, Obama went out of his way to say that if America is 'ready to initiate a new partnership [with the Muslim world] based on mutual respect and mutual interest, then I think that we can make significant progress.'"

Time's Scott MacLeod analyzes the text of the interview and concludes: "Here's what we learned in the al-Arabiya interview:

"Obama is critical of past U.S. Middle East policy, including insensitivity to the perspectives of the people in the region. . . .

"Obama is not kidding when he says he intends to plunge into peacemaking immediately. . . .

"Obama seems to see the need to address the legitimate interests of Arabs in the Middle East conflict, but he's going to judge their position based on their actions and not merely their words. . . .

"Obama seems intent on winning over the Arab world, to bolster U.S. credibility in pushing his Middle East policy, by leveraging his personal popularity on the Muslim street based largely on his Muslim roots and underdog image and by effectively campaigning for support among Muslims as he did for American voters. This could have a significant impact on his ability to win backing for compromises from the Arab world needed to achieve peace. The Arab street as well as Arab governments were skeptical even of Bush's better Middle East initiatives simply because they didn't trust him."

The Rollbacks Continue

Lisa Wangsness writes in the Boston Globe: "President Obama yesterday swept aside his predecessor's skepticism about global warming and reluctance to goad US automakers into producing more fuel-efficient vehicles, issuing orders that he said would lay the groundwork for breaking the nation's dependence on oil from unfriendly regimes and help stave off the effects of global warming.