Obama in Cairo: Press Reactions

We're trying to guage some of the reaction in the Middle East and Iran to Obama's address in Cairo yesterday, and a quick look at the English websites of al-Jazeera and Press TV provides two sharply differing intrepretations of the Israeli reaction. Israel issued a short statement in response to the speech, and while al-Jazeera believes that it points to a 'welcoming' reaction from Israel, Press TV focuses on an apparent Israel 'snub' to Obama over settlements. One short statement, two very different responses. Both pieces are reproduced below.

Press TV is featuring Hezbollah's rejection of the Obama speech:

"We do not sense any real change regardless of the language of the speech because violence in the region is practiced first and foremost by Israel and by the US armies of occupation, and not by the people who resist," AFP quoted Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah as saying on Thursday.

Interestingly, a Hamas official is quoted "as saying that while the speech showed 'tangible change', it contained contradictions."

Al-Jazeera: Israel welcomes Obama speech

The Israeli government has welcomed Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world, saying it hoped the speech would bring a "new period of reconciliation" in the Middle East.

The government statement made no mention of the issue of settlements, after the US president used his speech in Cairo to reiterate his call for an end to Israeli construction on Palestinian land.

"We share President Obama's hope that the American effort heralds the opening of a new era that will bring an end to the conflict and to general Arab recognition of Israel as the nation of the Jewish people that lives in security and peace in the Middle East," the statement said.

"Israel is committed to peace and will do all it can to expand the circle of peace while considering its national interests, first and foremost being security," it said on Thursday after Obama's address.

'Naivety can be dangerous'

Obama devoted a large portion of his speech to the issue of Israel and the Palestinian, and it comes amid reports of deepening differences between the US and Israel on the expansion of settlements.The US president restated Washington's strong ties with Israel, calling on Muslims to recognise the Holocaust.

But Obama also used the term "Palestine", as he reiterated his call for a Palestinian state.

Danny Seaman, the director of Israel's Government Press Office, said the government backed Obama's message.

"All in all, it's not bad. I don't think there's anything we disagree with here," he said.

"The state of Israel isn't against reconciliation," he added, but warned against any moves that could "be used by the extremists to endanger Israel and endanger the peace process".

But Aliza Herbst, a 56-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Ofra, said Obama's "naivety can be dangerous".

"You can have your speechwriters find every good thing a Muslim has ever done. But more modern history is that the Muslim world is at war with the Western world," she told the Associated Press news agency.

Press TV: Israel snubs Obama's settlements demand

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has appealed to the US government to rethink its demand to curb Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Barak made the appeal while meeting with the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon on Thursday, Reuters reported.

US President Barack Obama highlighted the issue in a speech to the Muslim world in Egypt on Thursday, saying, “There can be no progress towards peace without a halt to such construction”.

Israel, however, responded that its security interests remained paramount.

"We share President Obama's hope that the American effort heralds the opening of a new era that will bring an end to the conflict and to general Arab recognition of Israel as the nation of the Jewish people that lives in security and peace in the Middle East," an official statement said.

"Israel is committed to peace and will do all it can to expand the circle of peace while considering its national interests, first and foremost being security," the statement claimed.

Based on the US-backed Roadmap peace plan Israel must end settlement constructions in the lands occupied during the 1967 war.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has snubbed the international and Obama's demand to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state and end the settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.