In Cairo June 4, Obama called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, an end to Israel’s expansion of settlements in Palestinian territories and an end to Palestinian violence against Israel.

In his speech, Netanyahu accepted a limited, demilitarized Palestinian state if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the national home of the Jewish people. The demilitarization must mean no army, no control of airspace and “effective security safeguards,” said Netanyahu. He also rejected dividing Jerusalem, opposed the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and said that although no new settlements would be built, construction in already existing settlements would continue.

Daher said he felt that everyone was “looking very carefully” at taking advantage of the opportunity to renew the peace initiative. However, that would require a new governmental coalition on the Israeli side, he said, as well as unity between Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas.

“If everybody is serious about easing the conflict we have to move forward,” he said. “The real intentions of both sides will soon be seen.”

Mazin Qumsiyeh, president of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement Between People and a professor at Catholic-run Bethlehem University, was less conciliatory. In his blog, he said Netanyahu’s speech illustrated a “litany of lies, distortions and demands,” reminding him of past speeches by European colonial generals.

“Netanyahu says he does not want to rule over Palestinians but merely wants to keep our stolen lands and wants to control their airspace, water, entry and exit, and otherwise relegate us to Bantustans (black African homelands) in order to achieve the illusory security for him and the other colonizers/occupiers,” he wrote.

In Israel, public support for Netanyahu rose from 28 per cent to 44 per cent following his speech. According to results of a Tel Aviv University poll reported in Haaretz, 71 per cent of Israelis approved of his speech but said they did not see any breakthrough in the peace process as a result.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Netanyahu’s speech “set further preconditions for negotiations and, in effect, announced Israel’s intention to unilaterally dictate a solution, rather than negotiate a peace.”

Leaders of the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called the speech “a slap in the face.”