ANALYSIS: Netanyahu's first 100 days: A bumpy, "zig-zag" road

Tel Aviv - It took hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two and a half months to say the magic words 'Palestinian state.' Summing up his first 100 days in office, which pass on Thursday, Netanyahu earlier this week listed this as one of his main and first accomplishments. His June 14 speech at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv, in which he finally backed a - demilitarized - Palestinian state, had made 'the idea of 'two states for two peoples'' into a national consensus, Netanyahu told his cabinet. The speech outlining his policy on the peace process came after nearly 11 weeks of intense international pressure, led by the US, which had urged him to publicly endorse the two-state solution while the new government took time to review its policies. Israel's mainstream media, mostly left-of-centre, were critical of Netanyahu's first 100 days, so much so that the premier complained: 'I cannot say that they were 100 days of grace. I'm not sure that we had even one day of grace.' Critics charge that Netanyahu, who took office March 31 following elections in which the right-wing bloc of parties headed by his Likud won a majority of mandates, caused an unheard of crisis in Israel's friendly relations with the United States, by initially refusing to endorse the two-state solution - and then doing so out of pressure rather than conviction. A dispute with US President Barack Obama's administration over Israel's insistence on continuing 'natural growth' construction in existing West Bank settlements remains unsolved, although - Israeli - reports of a nearing compromise have begun to emerge this week. There are two possibilities. Either he caved into pressure and his hesitation and lingering sparked an 'unnecessary clash' with the US, as a commentator for the biggest-selling Yediot Ahronot daily wrote. Or, in a smart manoeuvre, he is trying to present a commitment to Palestinian statehood - first underscored 16 years ago by late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin of the left-to-centre Labour Party - as a new Israeli concession, in exchange for which he expects gestures by the Palestinians and the international community. This would fit in with what he terms his policy of 'reciprocity,' as part of which he has vowed he expects 'concrete steps' from other parties in exchange for any Israeli ones. The same may be true for any temporary Israeli acquiescence to a total settlement freeze. Among others, Israel wants first steps by Arab states toward a normalization of ties. While 100 days is still early in the game, so far he has not achieved such gestures from Arab states. From their point of view, why should they reward a hardline Israeli government with concessions even before a peace treaty, or before meaningful progress toward one, that they were not asked to make to previous governments who embraced the two-state solution from the outset? Netanyahu, however, does appear to have garnered the support of the US on this issue. Meanwhile, Netanyahu, 59, is also facing some internal pressure, although his critics charge he or his associates are deliberately exaggerating this. Some 20 of the 27 Likud lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament, are said to oppose a Palestinian state, while some 15 are said to object to a total settlement freeze. Likud hawks over the week-end sent a letter to their premier, urging him not to accept a total settlement freeze and rejecting out of hand a Palestinian state. About half the party's lawmakers signed the letter, Israel's Channel 2 television reported Sunday, prompting some local media to speak of an emerging Likud 'rebellion.' But Netanyahu is highly public opinion savvy. Before he finalized his Bar Ilan speech, he commissioned internal surveys - as he often does - which confirmed that its outline enjoys a wide consensus among the Israeli public. His decisions, however, are often guided not only by the general public opinion in Israel, but also by that among his centre-to-right electorate. By accepting the two-state solution, albeit with conditions, he has effectively taken the wind from the sails of Kadima, neutralizing the centrist opposition party. Netanyahu has listed as another accomplishment the complex composition of a bi-annual budget, already passed by his government and which he hopes to pass in the Knesset next week. But not without an unharmed reputation: He was slammed for backtracking at the last minute on an - already highly criticized in itself - decision to levy value-added tax on fruit and vegetables, needed to help meet Israel's large deficit. His die-hard critics called the cancellation, decided after ordering another survey, an illustration of his 'zig-zag' policy, his 'populist' governing method and his tendency to surrender to pressure, this time by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.