Next Monday’s Oval Office meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama will be a train wreck. It may precipitate the biggest breach in the U.S.-Israeli relationship since the Jewish state was created over sixty years ago.
This train wreck is almost inevitable because Obama and Netanyahu disagree about Mideast priorities and the way to attain important outcomes. That clash will expose Obama’s willingness to compromise Israel’s security for his pro-Islamic Mideast agenda.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will offer Obama renewed talks with the Palestinian Authority, closer relations with moderate Arab states, and remind the president to make good on his campaign promise to “use all elements of American power” and do everything to “prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
The Israeli will insist Obama give the Iranian threat top priority because he -- and most Israelis -- believe Tehran poses an existential threat for the Jewish state as evidenced by the coincidence of Iran’s rapidly emerging atomic weapons threat and the regime’s heated anti-Israeli rhetoric.
But Obama will promise Netanyahu nothing. He will not volunteer a timeline for his diplomatic experiment with Tehran nor how America might respond when diplomacy inevitably fails. However, he will assure the prime minister about his determination to engage Iran and repeat that diplomacy “is not the only option,” without explaining what that means.
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The prime minister will then speak about political realities. He might say, “Israelis have a favorable view of you, Mr. President, but 63 percent believe you are attempting to improve America’s reputation in the Arab-Islamic world at Israel’s expense. Only 38 percent of Israelis believe you are ‘friendly’ to Israel.” [The survey of the Israeli public was conducted April 23-26, 2009.]
Then Netanyahu may voice his final appeal. “Let’s be frank, Mr. President. There is no chance Tehran will volunteer to help the U.S. on issues like Iraq, a resupply route or reining-in Hizballah much less abandoning its atomic program.” But the Israeli might shelve those words depending on Obama’s response. After all, Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, warned the prime minister “Obama wants to make friends with our worst enemies… Under this policy we [Israel] are more than irrelevant. We have become an obstacle.”
That report, which was leaked to the World Tribune, states “Obama will want to show Iran, Syria and radical Muslims that the United States could pressure Israel on a strategic level.” The intelligence officials estimated that Obama would restrict U.S. exports to Israel to limit its options against Iran.
Such an outcome will only ratchet up the likelihood of another Mideast military confrontation. If the U.S. actually leaves Israel on its own, meaning that military essential resupply cannot be counted on, it increases the potential of Israeli use of its alleged nuclear arsenal.
Netanyahu understands Obama is willing to sacrifice Israel for a pro-Arab-Islamic agenda, which explains why their May 18 meeting will end in a major breach between the two allies.
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For my part, my money's on Netanyahu. Obama has not yet met a man of strength and character; a man who will not even pretend to swoon under the force of his personality. Without his hypnotic presence, The Messiah is just a naive little man, completely lacking in a fundamental understanding of the evil that is Iran. Faced with a very real existential threat, Prime Minister Netanyahu will be in no mood to humor our empty suit leader. Israel understands that they cannot count on the support of the United Socialist States, regardless of the tone of this meeting. They have nothing to lose. For the first time in his short reign of terror, President Pantywaist is about to be schooled in reality. Let the games begin.
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