by visiting israel. [laughter] it's a chonda! don't fall for it, my chosen brethren, my he-bros. [laughter] he doesn't get you. [cheers and applause] this man doesn't get it. israel is a divided country that feels beseiged by terrorists, and whose politics are increasingly dictated by a small, hard-right minority. obama can't relate to that! [laughter] and if you need more proof that the president is no friend of israel, just do the math: back in 2007, president bush supported israel with $2.3 billion in foreign military aid. this year, president obama wants to bring that down to just $3.1 billion. [laughter] i know, it looks like it's going up, but remember, in hebrew you read charts from right to left. [cheers and applause] all right? [cheers and applause] and our worst fears about obama were confirmed when he appointed as secretary of defense former senator and man who just learned his dog died-- chuck hagel. [laughter] hagel has a history of troubling statements. he once said the jewy lobby intimidat

israel's not going anywhere. israel has the wisdom to see the world as it is, but this is in your nature. israel also has the courage to see the world as it should be. you know, it was once said, in israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles. sometimes the greatest miracle is recognizing that the world can change. that's a lesson that the world has learned from the jewish people. and that brings me to the final area that i'll focus on. prosperity and israel's broader role in the world. i know that all the talk about security and peace can sometimes seem to dominate the headlines, but that's not where people live. and every day, even amidst the threats that you face, israelis are defining themselves by the opportunities that you're creating. through talent and hard work. israelis have put this small country at the forefront of the global economy. israelis understand the value of education and have produced ten nobel laureates. israeli's understand the power of invention and your universities ed

a priority america's commitment and my commitment to israel and israel's security is unshakeable. it isn't chicle. but his pronounced allegiance to israel was not just a commitment of the past commitment to the future as well take a look at vice president biden had to say at the conference just this morning. this one from the moment the president took office he has acted swiftly and decisively to make clear to the whole world and to our israel that even if circumstances have changed one thing has not our deep commitment to the security of the state of israel that has not changed that will guide change as long as i am the our president and vice pres non-state. you know our. self. found. however despite the administration's open display of affection and outright promise to stand by the country through thick and thin a shocking new poll reveals that voters think obama isn't doing enough yes thirty nine percent of voters that obama is not supporting israel enough only thirteen percent say it's policies quote to support it so what to talk about this unwavering bonamy influence that rea

to make a visit to israel. the israelis felt kind of sidelined by the cairo speech which he opened his first term with, and they did not necessarily like the tone of that speech. they were waiting for some sign that he also had a concern with the israeli public. he resisted his entire first term and decided to make this his first trip of his second term, as a way, maybe, of making up for not going in his first four years. >> let me ask you -- will this visit helped to start to restart or bring about a revival of the peace process? >> well, i think the chances seem unlikely at this moment, that we will see any major breakthrough in the coming weeks or months, but you never know. it is possible. i do not think that is the primary goal of his mission, but i think the fact that his new secretary of state, john kerry, is very interested in doing exactly that at least leave that possibility open, and i think what will be much more interesting is not what happens while he is there on the ground but what happens after

it is two trips in one to israel. the public part, you'd be hard- pressed to find a ford minivan'' worth of israelis that are anti- american. they want to like an american president. whatever their differences, for the most part, every stop along the visit is designed, choreographed to touch deeper chords in israeli society, whether it is the shrine of the books, or the stop at hertzel's tomb, or talking to israeli kids about their future in the 21st century. these are things obama will do very well at. i think this trip -- i would be surprised if it is not a success. there'll be some pickups, -- some hiccups, but the big piece, the public part i think is going to be successful to the extent it can. the way i see it, some say obama is just checking a box. i think he sees that the way towards managing his relationship with the israeli government runs through the israeli public. it does not mean that netanyahu is completely poll focused. i think the issue of iran as a gut issue for netanyahu. it is not just looking at p

israel and in the u.s. over iran he runs a role in this syrian uprising is really negligible because at the present moment there is the western powers of the us france britain. and at the same kind of. over fifty percent of the day. and then everybody you know who's israel and in the usa cannot think of anything other than through the prism of iran iran has nothing to do with the. syria point. rubbish which is the media being peddling it because if you if you attempt to put anything toward iran everybody in the west begins to feel threatened this is just like the use of and then you can accuse anybody of anything ok at the end of the day i think certainly the effect of the syrian revolution will be to weaken hezbollah because at the present moment the contact between iran and hezbollah is through syria and that's the point that is going to be weakened however i think israel knows hezbollah can do and israel cannot afford to lose civilians and civilians will be lost if there is an intervention with there is

right of existence of the state of israel there was there was a lot of recognition i am recognizing israel as a state i am a member of its parliament. and i cannot. accept a different. putting me in an inferior status both legally and publicly. to the jewish mother at any cost but in the past you have said that you believe in the nation's right to self to finish and so are you not contradicting yourself here no i recognize that the finish and the jews in israel but in israel there are all saw and mainly indigenous people who were here and did not come for writers or buy a plane or buy a ship i cannot. live. peacefully with the idea that is available in the still of the jewish people every june in every war every place in the world can i drive you and be immediately citizen when my uncle and my died in full color in jordan after being expelled in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight without even having is that right to be buried in tire in my town or in jaffa from where there where respect it is in justice pure and justice you are a member of the parliament since one thousand nine hundred

underway here in washington and there are more warnings of military action against iran coming from israel we'll have a report on that meeting straight ahead. it's monday march fourth four pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching. starting off this hour despite relentless efforts by the l.a.p.d. to shed its reputation of police recklessness case after case of excessive force keeps coming to light this one involves a seventy one year old woman her daughter and a case of mistaken identity now you've probably heard it by now in the all out manhunt for a former police officer turned cop killer christopher dorner police opened fire on a vehicle with two innocent women inside and the hernandez is only shield to protect her daughter from hundreds of bullets was her own body are to correspondent ramon galindo takes a closer look at her story and a few other cases of police recklessness a tragic case of mistaken identity is the explanation given as to why los angeles police officers fired one hundred rounds at two unarmed women delivering newspapers neighbors are still shocked and

in the absence of israel being forced out of the occupied territories so the fact that israel opposes it is a given that's not something we should be even bothered to we should even bother debating the question is how do you get israel to budge and i think the point that move we know you are both making is you can't get israel to budge through negotiations the way you get israel to budge is the same way you got south africa the budge there has to be an international solidarity movement acting in concert with an indigenous resistance movement in the occupied territories and what's crucial it's also critical they have. to be united behind a program that the international community finds credible and the only program right now that the international community finds credible. on the june one thousand nine hundred sixty seven border and not just resolution of the refugee question ok can we talk about the refugee question because it's extremely difficult well as you know. the israel palestine conflict didn't began in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven when i got the patient it began in o

the west bank and gaza from israeli control and israel's rule is. israel is resisting tooth and nail withdrawing from approximately twenty two percent of historic palestine what's the basis for the assumption that israel will relinquish relinquish complete control over the eighty percent of palestine it's had sovereigns sovereign sovereign control over since one thousand for the night that's just sheer silliness the only reason these. speculations now rise of one state it's because nothing is happening if nothing is happening on the ground and of course people will speculate about all sorts of things that are totally disconnected from politics if you take for example the first intifada the first into father was significant on through. number one it was a mouse all right. we don't have enough time so we have no norman my friend we have run out of time many thanks to my guests today in new york and in amman and thanks to our viewers for watching us here at r.t. see you next time and remember cross talk rules. you know the only one. i. sigrid laborator

of israel supported by the americans is the one which is creating this trouble for israel as well as obviously the people in the region this is this is not going to change with changing whether you have a regime of assad or islamist or whatever other terminology is used the idea that somehow israel is actually concerned about having a democratic stable regime of course this is a term used for having a government that is going to be the same as the us government when it comes to the israeli situation do nothing about the israeli situation stop the people from fighting them and this is this is not going to change i think this is going to change whereby whatever happens the regime that is going to come is going to make israeli life more difficult and israel is going to have to take how sharon measures syria and the neighborhood indeed in lebanon. and i let him. know bill do you want to jump in there react to what we just heard thank you let me again focus on the regional perspective because this is not just one nation a state of trying to articulate. thought you have to realize there ar

mentioning but still israel has peace with egypt as well as peace with jordan israel on the verge of reestablishing negotiations with the palestinians of course of the syrian responsible regime comes into power i'm sure that israel will be. interested in in gauging in a dialogue to see if the pieces is it is possible i do is really. to deal with your focus on circulation talking about bills comments regarding. the bill or about the u.s. role in this i think it's absolutely critical in essential that u.s. steps up its efforts aiding the opposition. supplying the opposition with even greater supply and funding the already been giving coordinating activity before we go to the break or you go to the break you can twenty seconds before we go to the break. the usa once said design out of many a position they want a particular opposition that is going to be that opposition that cannot be for instance from i'm not so that they cannot be from al qaida they cannot be islamist they cannot be shiite they cannot be with hezbollah they cannot be with iran so if they want to change the regime but t

aid to israel says stansell billion dollars here should also be cut but the israel lobby doesn't want a israel to be cut so here one game is that with this designation no major she teacher ally they would move things that are currently paid out of u.s. aid to israel each of the base pentagon budget the american will dismiss it out to nashville that's it so it should be a base and it got budget so the effect that of course is to transfer same effect as transferring money from the pentagon budget into the aid to israel so their goal here is to exams. cross the board cuts but of course they don't want to announce that on the marquee because americans are going to be told that oh no we have to cut you know a head start early childhood education because of the sequester but. israel is going to be protected a lot of that's going to make a lot of people fear it. right so it's clear how israel would benefit from list but the u.s. rubber stamping this status how do they benefit from it well this is not about the benefit of the us has nothing to do with the benefit of us this is about what you

what israel is trying to do here is they've noticed how israel is linked very quiet during the syrian uprising and that is because israel for its chance to get what it can from this particular. unrest north of its border in syria and what israel is looking for is always what israel is looking for is to increase its life and holdings so israel will be looking to seize the golan heights and keep it as a quote unquote security zone for israelis defense and of course in the golan heights we have the licenses which of coming to the news in recent weeks also we have water resources which israel needs very badly so it's a it's a bit of an opportunist agenda with regards to israel and syria and of course the deal with iran is also just to keep. in a permanent state of conflict over in the middle east as well and during that backing israel and whatever is and israel's joining us on a course put together practicalities come in let the money it costs on top of the sequester of the financial side of this we were just seeing spending cuts not taking huge effect in the u.s. where the money to suppo

it seemed to me he nudged a little bit closer to israel's position vis-a-vis iran. but the perception that bothered them tazz -- was not only that he was unsympathetic to israel but that the united states is disengaged, that the united states is no longer the player in the region that it once was. that's why i think this phone call he brokered between netanyahu and the turkish leader is -- was so important because it put the united states back in the role of being a player in the middle east. >> and that wasn't just a perception. that was in fact the reality of obama in the first term. he did not want to put the credibility of his administration behind what he thought was a fool's erond -- errand, the middle east peace process. >> the big question going forward was, was this just a matter of perception? we're going to see here in the coming months whether he sends john kerry back with a really serious mission to do something between the israelis and palestinians and what does he follow up on with respect to turkey, syria, etc. the >> well, it looks like he's going t

and israel as well. this will undoubtedly come up in the president should be prepared to talk about it there. >> yes? >> my question is addressed to marco. we need to prevent iran from getting [inaudible] benjamin netanyahu talked about this. [inaudible question] >> well, you know, i think this could be a better question for dennis. our message has been missed on this front. i agree with you that the president has, for example, he had weapons capabilities. where is that has been the focus in the past. i think the terminology the u.s. uses has varied greatly. it sends a mixed message. the point i think is that there is an underlying part of evidence. both of the u.s. and israel are focused on the same thing, which is preventing an undetectable breakout. that is sincerely michael. you look at the question of how quickly could iran develop the weapons grade uranium for a single unintentional nuclear weapon. how can we be sure that we can prevent them from getting to that point. i would argue that the weapon

israel really is an skoesten shl issue. that is a question in israel's mind. whether the united states will change its policies at the moment, of course, that will depend on progress in iran. and there is real progress. the question is in iran, how close are they actually to in terms of enriching uranium to that 20% level. how much of it and how soon will they reach the 93% level which means they can make a bomb very quickly. and american intelligence, pretty -- they are pretty close to agreeing on what is happening in iran. what they don't necessarily agree on is what to do about it. >> we should note here for viewers at home, that the joint news conference that was supposed to have started at 2:00 or 2:05, we just received word that it will start at 2:25 instead. the joint news conference between netanyahu and president obama. when it happens, we will bring it to you live as well. louise, let me bring you in here to the conversation. what can we expect the president to say about the expansion of settlements, on palestinian land, another major issue on the ag

but it is their tool not the goal and its tool to achieve peace meanwhile israel is trying to rearrange the occupation not to in the completion arab parties have won the same number of seats as before but what we have noticed is a decrease in the number of arab voters turning out to cast their ballot of this time we it increased by three percent compared to two thousand and nine still it is very low half of the arab voters are not participating why are you not able to get more people to vote we succeeded in stopping the decline and the decline was able to bring us to forty eight forty five but we are arrived to fifty six this is good this is a given to the direction of increases but a good percentage will be seventy or more as a minority a national minority we should vote more than the majority but we are doing the opposite and it's a mistake in the selection extreme right wing israeli parties united why are the arab parties not able to unite as well because we are not extreme but we should have one or a beautified list we tried our best to compose and to create it before the elections

and we want to know how you see a bomb israel intentions in israel that's what we're asking in our poll and. let's see what the opinions are there right now the vast majority think the whole trip is nothing more than a p.r. stunt almost a fifth bomber is trying to buy time and restrain needs route from striking nearly ten percent think the u.s. media should be focusing more on palestine and a tiny minority actually expected to bring the region closer to pace cost you a vote where you have to do is going to come. up ahead daniel bushell thinks it's a tough questions and he's shy of the truth and. jorge rios an argentinean student at seventeen other similar students from foreign countries all paid a private company between twenty thousand and four thousand dollars so that they get to take part in a u.s. state department work study program he was promised forty hours of work per week at a common fast food restaurant with a decent salary but the reality he claims was quite different he was actually only given around four hours of work per week what was expected to be on call twenty four sev

that they thought the turks were wrong to be criticizing israel. they eventually did two days later. but you have one that this was a case where you had one ally israel and another ally nato ally turkey. at odds and this is a situation that we've seen ever since the gaza flotilla and it's a very difficult line and what i'm pushing for is consistency or to show that the administration isn't consistent that it has a lack of consistency in dealing with various allies around the world what is the biggest criticism among in the journalistic community as you sense it right now well i think that there's. i think that a lot of reporters don't understand how the administration justifies not doing anything in syria when they did do it in libya so they had to be president and they would want the administration to actually go oh i don't know i don't know if it's a question of reporters wanting the administration to go in but it's a question of what happened in libya was that it was that cut off. just threatened to hit us and that was justification in the minds

, their needs, american support of israel. they have not liked some of the talk of how he would go about the negotiations, but it would be interesting to conduct opinion polls now which before his visit showed the skepticism about barack obama. i think there is less skepticism now, there is still skepticism about whether it is truly possible to make peace. >> ok, thank you. for more on president obama's trip, i am joined now by the former jordanian former minister, and i want to pick up where we left off. president obama went to israel with an 11% approval rating. during the charm offensive the past couple days, he has probably improved his standing amongst the israeli people. does that matter in terms of the peace process? pretty well ifid his objective was to have a charm offensive. i think he did pretty well in speaking to the israelis about their needs of security, particularly not just related to the peace process but iran as well. but i think there is a key phrase the president used, you must create the change that you w