I’d like to write some pithy detailed and authoritative post about the day Netanyahu met Obama.

I really would.

Sadly, or wisely, whatever happened behind those doors today has not been revealed to the public. The two men left the room with the same positions they had going in. Nothing has changed as far as the public is concerned.

If something has changed, such as for example, Obama threatening Netanyahu about settlement construction, it may become apparent over the next few months.

Otherwise, big yawn for this important meeting.

About the author

themiddle

11 Comments

  • Netanyahu’s ‘positions’ being what, exactly?

    We’ll see what Obama says in his forthcoming speech in Egypt.

  • Netanyahu’s positions being “no” to a Palestinian state and “yes” to autonomy; “yes” to settlements and “no” to backing off on that front; “must” to hear the Palestinians accept a “Jewish state” and “reject” to any other formulation; etc.

    Vicki, I should have known to let you write the post!

  • The real question is, what Obama will Israel deal with for the next several years? The political animal who readily backs off positions in the face of political pressure, e.g. his flip-flops on ‘torture’ prosecutions? The Obama who’s been rolled again and again by Gates and the generals? Or, the agent of change who knows above all that he’s against every one of the former administration’s policies?

    It shouldn’t surprise anyone if our soigne president simply gives up on an aggressive, newly-formulated approach to the Mideast.

  • I think he’s avoiding wars that could derail his key objectives. I don’t see him as weak or as a pushover. I think he’s pragmatic and is biding his time on certain battles and confrontations. He can’t fight everything all at once. He’s also gotten himself into a situation where he is now privy to much more information than before and he’s been pushed into a corner by the realities that some Bush policies have created and aren’t so easily rolled back.

    I don’t think he’s backing off Israel any time soon.

  • Let’s hope Tom’s right and you’re wrong, Middle. I think he is. So far, Obama has broken his word on practically everything, so there is reason to hope that he’ll cave on this one too when he’s no longer able to ignore reality.

    However, considering the retread Arabist hacks, anti-Semites and kapos he’s surrounded himself with, I have a feeling that he may very well try to impose his will on Israel. But success in that endeavor has eluded better men than him, so we’ll see. It could go either way.

    As far as Israel is concerned, what are the “realities that some Bush policies have created that aren’t so easily rolled back”, Middle?

    The fact that the Arabs hate Israel? Yeah, all Bush’s fault. Obama’s gonna have to fix that. Yes we can!

  • Any day now, Middle will get mugged by reality. It’s already happened to Obama.

    Sadly, among the “realities” that Bush has “created” are a number of bad guys rounded up in the war on terror. However, this could easily be “rolled back”. The prisoners could be transferred elsewhere by executive fiat. They could each receive a trial in an Article III court, with the full panoply of constitutional and procedural rights. The military tribunals, created by the old executive, could be eliminated with a stroke of Obama’s pen.

    He either lacks the balls, or on reflection, shall we say, doesn’t think these things are good ideas. Even Eric Holder, back from Cuba, thinks Gitmo is a swell place.

    Let me know when Obama begins to have responsiblility for the government, he being, you know, the president and all.

  • Where do you transfer the prisoners? France won’t take them.

    How do you give them a trial when it’s almost certain that laws were broken and what comes out in trial infuriates the people you want to make peace with?

    You’re darn right he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Which is my point. He is having to deal with realities and they aren’t clear-cut or simple.

    And the same goes for giving in to the generals. He can’t fight everybody all at once. He has to choose his battles, and the Pentagon is probably not the best place for a Democrat to start cutting things if he doesn’t want to be attacked as “weak” on terror or security, or to take the blame for failure in Iraq or Afghanistan.

    It seems to me he’s being responsible for the government, but it will take time to undo 8 years of an activist insane government that had such few reservations about pushing its agenda that there may well be one governor in prison and several fired prosecutors because of the breathtaking chutzpah of the Bush administration.

  • I asked what Bush policies in regards to Israel Obama had to roll back, Middle.

    I think we found out today what those are.

    He’s clearly intent on rolling back Bush policies that treated Israel as a staunch ally, a valued friend, and an independent state that has the right and duty to decide on policies it believes are in its best interests without being dictated to by outsiders.

    What a complete and utter dirtbag he’s turned out to be. His whole Middle East policy consists of letting Abdullah fuck him in the ass while he’s going down on Imanutjob.

    I’ll bet he doesn’t even get a reach-around, the dishrag.

    The Rodney Dangerfield POTUS. He and Dhimmi Carter ought to take their show on the road.

  • I have a solution to the prisoner problem. It’s same as the Dennis Miller solution to pedophiles: “Holes in the ground”