Word: speech
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...seemed to show promise. When, after eight years away, Ross returned to the State Department in early February, he quickly assembled a seven-person team and began working through a long list of moves. The first and still the most important came on March 20, when Obama gave a speech to Iranians on the holiday of Nowruz. The President made it clear that the U.S. would seek full normalization of relations with Iran, that it recognized Iran as an Islamic republic, that it would not pursue regime change there and that his Administration would talk about any issue Iran wanted...
...credit, clench-jawed Netanyahu could have used the re-election of Israel's favorite bogeyman, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Iran to raise the usual security alarms and resort to time-tested fear-mongering. But in his speech, he mentioned Iran only briefly. (See a story about how Tehran's streets have become a battleground...
...right, the speech could have been much worse. Ever since U.S. President Barack Obama told the Israelis to freeze the settlements - and meant it, as opposed to previous U.S. Administrations that barked but never bit on that subject - the right has been worried that Netanyahu might cave. In fact, Netanyahu left himself familiar wiggle room on settlements too, saying the Israeli government would freeze settlements but allow room for natural growth (translation: ultra-religious families of eight should not feel the need to restrain their rate of reproduction...
...hours after the speech, the right called Netanyahu's acceptance of a two-state solution a sign of Bibi's Obama-ization. "It was a brilliant speech, but Netanyahu surrendered to American pressure. We will act with all our power against a Palestinian state," said Dany Danon, a Likud party leader. The hard-line Prime Minister didn't seem eager to deny his common ground with Obama. "I share the President of the U.S.A.'s desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region," Netanyahu said...
...Sunday's speech, reports suggest he'll adopt language compatible with Obama's goals, and even use the term "Palestinian state" as the wrapper for his own, far more restricted conception of Palestinian sovereignty. Israeli reports from sources close to the Prime Minister say the speech, over which he is still consulting allies, will embrace a limited, conditional version of the two-state solution, but will at the same time push back against the call for a settlement freeze. Nobody knows yet exactly what Netanyahu will say in his effort to harmonize his government's positions with Washington...