President Barack Obama charmingly conducted another press conference bathed in the golden light of the White House's East Room. The audience heard the President's focus was Health Care Reform and all questions posed were about that controversial topic, with the exception of the last question, which referred to the brouhaha between Professor Henry Gates and the Cambridge, Massachusetts police department.

And so again, while the spotlight was on a singular agenda of the President, what was not visible front and center was the continued pressure on Israel to agree to stop all settlement growth and expansion. Nevertheless, as the President spoke, plans were already well underway for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Council Advisor General Jim Jones, Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell and NSC special envoy Dennis Ross to all be in Israel the following week.

This, despite the fact that the President's assurances to Jewish leaders with whom he met just two weeks prior, that requests for the Palestinians to curb incitement and for the Arab world to show more support of Israel would be forthcoming, but had yet to occur.

Alan Solow, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations criticized the administration over its recent diplomatic disagreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the planned building of new apartment units in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

"Hundreds of Arab families have moved into Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the same right should be accorded to Jewish residents to live wherever they choose in Jerusalem," Solow said in a statement released by the Conference of Presidents. "No government of Israel has or can pursue a discriminatory policy that would prevent the legitimate presence of Jews in any area of the capital."

So under the guise of discussion and cooperation, Israeli and American officials met, ostensibly discussing a plan for peace with the Palestinians, while in all probability, also coordinating strategy in response to Iranian intransigence and lack of cordiality in regard to Obama's repeated requests for engagement.

In anticipation of all his visitors from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States are working to advance "common interests."

"Our common interests encompass all the main areas of bilateral cooperation," he said. "I believe that such an intensive continuity in contacts with the U.S. reflects our common denominator in the search for security stability, economic development, diplomatic progress and other strategic issues. This network of relations is important and steadfast."

Later, Netanyahu said that the vast majority of Muslim societies would choose advancement and progress over radicalism and terror, and predicted that the Hamas regime in Gaza would fall in the future.

"In the struggle of darkness and terror versus advancement and prosperity, the vast majority of Muslim societies would pick advancement and prosperity," Netanyahu said in an address before the graduating class of the National Security College during a ceremony at Jerusalem`s Hebrew University.

"We have seen this in Teheran and in the West Bank and tomorrow, we will see it in Gaza," he added ..."do they progress economically like Dubai, or do they go backwards like Gaza?"

"Prosperity and peace will win in the struggle, and in the end, radical Islam will be defeated," he said.

"In the fight between the 21st century and the 9th century, I am confident they will choose the 21st century."

Netanyahu downplayed differences between Israel and the United States on issues such as a freeze in settlement construction.

"Naturally, even within the fabric of friendly bilateral relations between two allies, there will not be full agreement on every point," the Israeli leader said. "On various issues, we are trying to reach the same understanding so that together we may advance our common goals -- peace, security and prosperity for the entire Middle East."

While Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was in Israel for six hours, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told him that the Jewish State intends to keep a military option on the table in response to Iran's nuclear program.

"We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it. We recommend to others to take the same position, but we cannot dictate it to anyone."

Gates, in turn, said, "We will continue to ensure that Israel has the most advanced weapons for its national defense." He said that the U.S. offer of dialogue with Iran was not open-ended, adding that President Obama hoped to hear a response from Iran by the fall. He added that he was aware that Iran could try to take advantage of that time in continuing to produce a nuclear weapon.

Barak responded, "If there is an engagement, we believe it should be short in time, well defined in objectives, followed by sanctions that won't take too much time to clarify whether Iran is trying to deceive the whole world or is sincerely ready to cooperate," he said.

Barak also made it clear that while the U.S. administration's efforts on the peace process front are important, Israel's main concern is Iran.

"The Iranian nuclear program is a central issue in our minds," Barak said. "We also discussed the prospects of a regional peace in the Middle East."

And, indeed, while both sides refused to detail what was said in the meeting between Gates and Netanyahu, a statement from the Prime Minister's office did say most of the discussion between the two men was related to Iran.

George Mitchell arrived in Israel after meeting with Syrian president Bashar Assad. After Mitchell met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mitchell said "good progress" had been made.

Mitchell also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and reportedly told Abbas that there is "a gap" between Israel and the United States on the issue of settlements. Abbas has refused to enter into renewed negotiations with Israel until it freezes all settlement construction.

Mitchell called differences between Israel and the U.S. "discussions among friends" and "not disputes among adversaries."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her view of the proceedings when she appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Clinton said the United States is committed to protect Israel from an Iranian nuclear threat.

She added that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is "futile" and reiterated American support for the Jewish state.

"We are not going to let it happen," she said of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

"We have a long, durable relationship with Israel," she said. "We believe strongly that Israel's security must be protected. We will continue to work with all of our allies, most particularly Israel, to determine the best way forward to prevent Iran from being a nuclear weapons state."

Clinton said that the overriding purpose of all the Obama administration officials visiting Israel was to "brief the Israelis" and "listen to the Israelis."

So while diplomats and politicians are yet again bouncing around the future of the Holy Land, how are we, everyday people, to respond? We can just ignore what goes on, saying, "What's the point, there will never be peace. Or we can say, "I have no part in this so I'm just going about my business," or we can say, "we don't watch TV or keep up with media as an act of faith that G-d will determine what happens."

And, I would recommend, none of the above.

We are implored to choose life, to choose peace, to be a "Light to the Nations" and that happens not by giving up or sitting on the sidelines. For as much as it may seem that we are powerless to effect change, especially, "over there, " we need to remember that over there is actually here.

For the Holy of Holies that was in the two Temples that were destroyed still exists in every one of us. And unlike material edifices, we can choose to recognize and embrace that Divine essence which is part and parcel of every Jewish person. G-d is eternal. The Torah is eternal. And each and every Jew is eternal.

And we can be empowered to celebrate that that can never be destroyed by anyone or anything unless we permit it to happen. We can love that holiness and sanctity that already exists within and allow it to be expressed in everything we think, say and do. Or we can choose, G-d forbid, to hide it, and therefore become much more susceptible to other influences which only obscure and confuse our true wonderfulness.

We can allow that inner light to shine through and help illuminate this world and do our unique part to bring the world to its ultimate fruition. We do that through love. Loving our Divine selves and loving G-d. We can feed our love of G-d by doing mitzvot, the how-to's that the Creator lovingly gave us in the Torah. Each mitzvah is a way of connecting with our beloved G-d; just as doing what a loved one requests is a way of showing our love to and connecting with them.

We can choose an easier way, using modern interpretations to "get out of" doing the 613 mitzvah menu G-d has served up. But if we stop and close our eyes and really take some honest moments, connecting with our sacred center, connecting with the truth, we will perhaps also remember what our great great grandparents looked like and how they behaved. We can remember and learn about the values for which they lived and died; values, laws and customs that have sustained the Jewish nation for thousands of years. Mind-boggling. Yet so very simple.

Old fashioned? No, it's actually very fresh, new, bright and exciting. Because the Creator renews the world each day. And so if we woke up this morning, it's because we are here to do what no one else in the world can do. G-d is telling us, "I need you here. I need you to be a partner with me in completing this wonderful world." So we can begin each day with a "wow" moment as we dive into the special purpose each of us has for being here.

The path will most likely be filled with challenges, which could cause us to despair. The labyrinthine future may feel overwhelming and impossible. But guess what? King Solomon knew that when he built the First Temple, so he built labyrinthine tunnels through which we had to pass before arriving at the Temple and accessing the Holy of Holies. That is a marvelous encouragement and reminder to us that those tough places are meant to be a stimulating part of our journey and our growth, a way of removing our resistance to the existence of the hills and valleys. And each step can be taken with a sense of joy and freedom and delight and self worth in the beauty that we are advancing along our unique path of truth that G-d has paved just for us.

Each one is an opportunity to allow the revealing of our true selves to shine through the darkness, to transform negative energy into positive energy, as we continue getting closer to the one G-d who loves us so very much. That is why in the Shema prayer, after we say that G-d is 0ne, the next word is love, v'ahavta. That is the process of tshuva, return. We return to where we belong. We can love our life and love our G-d and know that we are inseparably together forever.

So just as we as individuals rejoice that no one else can determine what a Jew is to do besides G-d, so can we rejoice that as a nation, we also have a unique path. Then the machinations of Ehud Barak or Barack Obama are events which we may choose to view from the perspective of our nation's collective unique G-dly path that is separate, kadosh, holy, and not always understood or to the liking of other nations.

Ultimately, the only audience we aim to please is G-d.

JTA contributed to this report.