Israel leaders hail Obama Nobel win, hope for ‘new era of peace’

Israel’s leaders congratulated U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday for winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing the hope that his presidency would “usher in a new era of peace.”

“Congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize for Peace,” said Netanyahu in a message to Obama. “You have already inspired so many people around the world, and I know that this award also expresses the hope that your Presidency will usher in a new era of peace and reconciliation.”  Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.

ANALYSIS: Obama’s Nobel win seen as ‘daring’ bet on future

Barack Obama is not the first Nobel laureate to win mainly for raising hopes of a better world, rather than achieving peace. But rarely, experts say, does a politician win so soon after gaining power and without a major foreign policy accomplishment under his belt.

“The Nobel Committee wants the prize to have an impact and it certainly can with Obama, although in many ways it’s premature,” said Kristian Berg Karpviken, head of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO).  Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.