From his vantage as chief of staff to Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Eitan Haber witnessed numerous summit meetings between Israeli and U.S. leaders. On the eve of Benjamin Netanyahu's summit with Barack Obama on Tuesday, Mr. Haber shares his insight into personal relationships and petty politics.
Mr. Haber, you've been involved in several summits. Do you think these meetings are really helpful?
You can't imagine how important it is to the relationship between the leaders and between the countries.
I had always been taught that between countries there are only interests. But, in government, I learned how important the personal relationships are.
For many years we enjoyed a very special relationship with the White House, especially when [Yitzhak]Rabin was prime minister and Bill Clinton was president. Both of them became more than friends. It was something unbelievable. You had to see it to believe it.
We took our international strength from that close relationship. This was the case for almost two decades and we did very well all over the world.
What should Prime Minister Netanyahu be aware of as he goes into this summit?
He should know that this President, Barack Obama, is not like other presidents before him: He has no yachas [meaning relationship]with Israel, no special feeling for the roots of Israel or with the Jewish tradition.
Mr. Netanyahu is American - he lived many years in America and he understands the political undercurrents. He knows that the United States has changed from what it was 20 or 30 years ago - that it has changed the rules, changed its character.
But not just America has changed. Look at Europe: there are millions of Muslims living there now and the political leaders must take into consideration the wishes of those millions of immigrants.
We are facing a new world, and for Mr. Netanyahu, this is one of the most crucial trips any prime minister has ever made to the States.
What subject do you expect will dominate their talks?
For Mr. Netanyahu, Iran's nuclear threat is the No. 1 issue, the No. 2 issue and the No. 3 issue. He wants to find the right solution for ending this threat, by peaceful means, or by whatever means necessary.
What do you think Mr. Obama will want to achieve?
I'm sure his advisers have been telling him they went too far in insulting Mr. Netanyahu on his earlier visit. I'm sure they will try to enhance the personal relations between the two leaders.
They appear to be making a big effort: There's to be a press conference, official photos and they're putting the Prime Minister up in Blair House, the special guest house. What do you think?
It saddens me to hear that all these things are the result of a special effort. When we went to the States six, seven or eight times a year, we always stayed in Blair House, we always had pictures, we always had a press conference. This was normal. We never imagined it would be any different.
I'm afraid it shows that Obama's team doesn't view personal relations as mattering so much.
We know the personalities are different, that they probably don't like each other, but are the goals of the two men compatible?
Let's wait and see. I hope that the shadow of bad relations will pass during these meetings. Otherwise we Israelis are in trouble.