Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pitched a perfect game in his visit to the White House and speeches to Jews during his trip to the United States.
President Barack Obama and the Prime Minister had a mutual interest in their “letting bygones be bygones” meeting. Neither had anything to gain by trying to upstage the other.
The President could only have damaged the next Democratic presidential nominee if he had done so, and the Prime Minister is more interested in American military aid and preventing a jihadist Syria than he is in showing off to the White House that he is more popular in Israel than his host is with Americans.
Regardless of their disagreements over the nuclear deal with Iran, both leaders know very well that the “unbreakable bond” between the United States and Israel is not just an expression. Without Israeli intelligence on the Middle East, America would be up the creek.
Without a certain degree of American support, Israel would be dogpaddling in the creek.
The fact that President Obama publicly stated that the “two-state” mantra will remain so until the distant future was a direct statement to Palestinian Authority chairman that Washington finally understands, without saying so, that the Arab world does not want a true peace between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Jordan, for example, wants a Palestinian Authority country on its border as much as the Ayatollah of Iran wants to play golf with Obama.
Obama’s statement in effect sent the dead and buried “peace process” into the mausoleum of illusions for historians to laugh at.
It gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a great send-off to address approximately 2,000 guests of the American Enterprise Institute Monday night, where he was honored with the Irving Kristol Award.
Bill Kristol introduced Netanyahu as the “preeminent leader of the free world,” and the honoree quipped, “I’m not used to receiving such awards in Israel.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu preached to the chorus, which wildly applauded his understanding that the Arab-Israeli conflict is not based on religion, the “occupation” or politics. He hit the nail on the head and said:
The core of the conflicts in the Middle East is the battle between modernity and early premeditative medievalism.
In his speech to the Federations’ General Assembly on Tuesday, the Prime Minister scored a hit with the bulk of American Jews by embracing all streams of Judaism, especially when he promised:
l invest directly in the development and fostering of Conservative and Reform communities in Israel.
After playing music to the ears of President Obama, the right wing and the pluralistic Federations, he turned his attention to the liberal CAP, which took a lot of flak from left-wing groups for even inviting the Prime Minister to speak.
Obama’ dumping of the “peace process” and Abbas suicide strategy for creating a Palestinian Authority country opened the gates at CAP for Netanyahu.
Abbas has made Netanyahu look good even to liberal Jews. He has exposed himself as a fake, a con man, a liar and just another Arab leader who is failing to reach his objective on the diplomatic front as every Arab general has failed to do on the military front – destroy Israel.
Netanyahu now can reach out to the bulk of American Jewry who love the idea of “two states.” They previously rejected the Prime Minister but now accept the fact that it is not Israel’s fault it won’t happen.
The liberals who love any president so long as he (or she) is a Democrat and now they can be happy that Obama and Netanyahu have nothing left to fight about. They want Israel to be a nice doggie so their non-Jewish friends won’t look at them awkwardly when Israel flexes its muscles, but they no longer can blame the “occupation” for stabbing attacks in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu said:
Just about any Israeli in his right mind agrees with what I’m about to tell you: Any deal or any arrangement, unilateral or negotiated, must have Israel maintain the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat, including from territories that are ceded. That’s the most important provision. That’s something I don’t see Palestinians accepting now.
American Jews, from all political and religious streams, and President Obama finally realize, even if they won’t admit it, that Israel is the only normal country in the Middle East and that Netanyahu is a lot smarter than they figured.
