Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 10/2009

No Expansion vs. Freeze: Obama's Dilemma over Israeli Settlements

David Makovsky

August 2009

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Abstract

Two and a half months after U.S. president Barack Obama and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu first hit an impasse over the settlement issue, the dispute has not only continued, it has also grown more complex. Saudi Arabia has now rebuffed requests from Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell to pursue confidence-building measures toward Israel, even in return for a moratorium on settlement construction. Although the Obama administration has not yet leveled any public criticism against Riyadh, it continues to be critical of Israeli settlements. To move diplomacy forward, Washington will have to engage in some creative policymaking.