In this hopeful season, as it begins to look as if U.S. unemployment figures may break for Obama in the Reagan pattern, I can't help but lament that Obama's fate lays in the palm of Netanyahu's hand. U.S. leverage to prevent Israel from bombing Iran is undercut by our disloyal opposition loudly proclaiming that Israel must receive unconditional U.S. support for any action it chooses, including setting the Middle East on fire and throwing the world economy into recession -- and screaming "appeasement" at any administration attempt to exert any kind of pressure on Israel.
I would like to think that Obama has some sub rosa resources for transmitting a 'cross me and you die' message to Netanyahu -- a brutal paranoiac driven by his 100 year-old father's lifelong obsession with antisemitism. But without any preparation for the American people -- i.e., some suggestion that U.S. interests do not always dictate unconditional support for any and all actions of the Israeli government -- I can't see where any deterrent power over Israel would come from.
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