Yesterday, Israel said that they would take steps to ease the blockade on Gaza. A list of items that are supposed to encourage economic growth in Gaza has been reviewed and repealed. Today President Obama said that the bond between Israel and the U.S. is “unbreakable.” Netanyahu said he looked forward to taking “concrete steps” to peace.

After March, when talks about how to diplomatically proceed with Palestine reached an impasse, relations were at their worst. Today marks a return to a relationship based on good appearances.

In the West Bank, the New York Times reports a list of groups that have given large, tax-deductible sums to Jewish development. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has stalled the building projects that were announced in March to be constructed in East Jerusalem in hopes of kick-starting a peace process.

While critics say that this is simply political posturing, the fact that cameras were allowed to photograph the Prime Minister and the President is reassuring to many Jews who hope for peace and a strong friendship between Israel and the U.S.

Talks between Netanyahu and Obama wrapped up after tensions between the two governments flared over the past few weeks.  Recently, the U.S. has urged Israel to yield to its requests to forego building in Jerusalem, but Israel asserts its right to build in its capital.

The Obama administration has softened its approach to Iran’s building of nuclear weapons in hopes of winning Chinese and Russian approval. The Israelis, in return, have announced a small 20 unit housing project in a mostly Arab neighborhood, Sheikh Jarrah.

Obama wants Israel to move into peace talks by tackling the big issues – border negotiation and refugee return, topics which ruffle Jewish feathers, especially with the upcoming Arab League meeting encouraging the attendance of Hamas. Unfortunately for Abbas, any endorsement from the league must play in favor of anti-Israel sentiments, which would further stifle any peace efforts in the region.

The Obama team also wants Netanyahu to ditch his Orthodox backing, in favor of the Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni. Chances are, however, that peace talks will be slow in coming if Palestine plays for Arab support and Israel  garners Orthodox support.

The Obama Administration has condemned the Israeli comments about building new homes in Ramat Shlomo, leading to the absence of warmth and fuzziness in the American-Israeli relationship so characteristic of preceding American presidencies. Obama believes the only way to peace in the region is a two state solution, and that the way to achieve this is through compromise.  Chances are President Obama will take a hard line with both Israel and Palestine, but for the former this may seem a pugnacious attempt to improve American standing in the Middle East, at the expense of Jewish-American relations.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is hawkish when it comes to Israeli rights, but the renewed violence in the Gaza strip only underscores the need for a peaceful solution in the form of two states. If, as Obama hopes, he is able to coerce Palestine into severing their ties with Iran, the while enforcing Palestinian leaders to recognize and appreciate a Jewish state, perhaps Netanyahu will surrender certain parts of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. That’s a lot to ask for, especially from a state that harbors such large extremist groups. Some have suggested financial compensation to move Palestinians out of the area, others have scoffed at the possibility for peace at all, but for Obama, forming ties to Syria and other Middle East countries are the focus. It seems that  rather than lashing out against American enemies, Obama is trying to foster pro-American sentiment within those countries by scorning pro-Israeli action.

The success of the upcoming proxy peace talks will determine not only the relationship between Israeli and Palestine, but that of Israel and America as well.