June 14, 2009 Netanyahu Says the Words: Endorses Two State Solution

The demonstrations in Iran continued today. In defiance of the ban on further demonstrations, hundreds of thousands turned out to the streets of Teheran. The “defeated” candidates called on the people to keep coming out until their demands for a new elections are met. It is not clear how far the demonstrators and their leaders are willing to go, but there seems to be a sense that what started out as demonstrations against a possibly fixed election are turning into demands for fundamental change in Iran. This has clearly caught the clerics by surprise, and some observers believe that they are willing to bail on Ahmadinejad to save the Islamic republic. Whether that happens and if there will be fundamental change in Iran is still the big unknown, but the drama of the events taking place in Iran is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Secretary of State Clinton met with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Lieberman yesterday. She made it clear that the United States wants the settlement construction ended. Lieberman stated that was impossible. A compromise may be in the works, but its not guaranteed.

The Wall Street Journal had an excellent editorial today. It attacked the Palestinians for being as critical as they were of Netanyahu's speech. It is clear that they hoped by attacking it President Obama would become convinced that the speech did not go far enough and exert additional pressure20on Netanyahu.