Israeli News: A Daily AnalysisPeres at Aipac- Clash Coming Wtih Obama Administration

A Daily Analysis

May 4, 2009- Peres at Aipac- Clash Coming Wtih Obama Administration?

Shimon Peres was the main speaker at the annual AIPAC conference today. Shimon Peres, "promoter of Benjamin Netanyahu", was the teaser piece before tonight’s Israeli news. Sure enough, the coverage included extensive excerpts from Peres' speech to AIPAC, in which he stated that Netanyhu was a man who understood history and wanted to make history. Peres continued, in Israel, the way you make history is by reaching peace. That was the public show. Tomorrow President Peres meets with President Obama. This is the first time in Israel’s history that the ceremonial President has met with the President of the United States before the Prime Minister. This is not accidental. Obama prefers meeting with Peres, whose views he knows, while the meeting that will take place in a couple of weeks between Obama and Netanyahu is fraught with uncertainties.

Israeli TV reported that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was at the AIPAC conference. In background conversation, Emanuel was stating the Obama administration's position that the only way to stop Iran was to make progress on Palestinian question. The position of the Israeli government is the mirror image of the American position, claiming that no progress is possible on the Palestinian question without confronting the problem of Iran. Israel's position will not be able to withstand the pressure that will, no doubt, be applied by the US and the EU. It's not that a solution to the Israeli Palestinian problem needs to be reached, but there needs to be a sense that progress is being made. As Martin Indyk stated in his recent book, Egypt and Jordan do not necessarily want peace, but they need a peace process. Nenayahu and Lieberman’s word will be important in the coming weeks.

London and Kirshenbaum had an interview with the old/new Director General of the Ministry of Education, Shimshon Shoshani. This will be his third time as Director General, and he and PM Netanyahu see eye to eye on the general direction that educational reform needs to take in Israel. It seems they are both devotees of a McKinsey Report, that shows the level of achievement possible in a country's educational system is determined by who becomes teachers. It seems those countries where students in top tenth percentile of university students become teachers, have the best teachers and the best educational outcomes. Gee Whiz, I wonder what McKinsey was paid for that report. Of course the problem is that the brilliant consulting firm did not lay out how you accomplish their advised outcome. Most of the teachers in Israel, not only did not finish in the top ten percent of their class, many were unable to get into the standard academic colleges.