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More to this feud than personalities
Commentary Magazine ^ | 9-13-12 | Jonathon S. Tobin

Posted on 09/13/2012 3:06:43 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

How bad have things gotten between Israel and the United States? Yesterday’s nasty exchange between the two countries in which President Obama turned down a request for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu showed that the problem has now escalated from a simmering, longstanding argument about the peace process to a full-blown feud. The White House did some damage control and reportedly the two men spoke at length last night. But anyone who thinks that will resolve their differences hasn’t been paying attention to the unhealthy dynamic that has been festering since the two both came into office in early 2009.

The two have sniped and carped at each other for most of the past four years. But the decision of much of the mainstream media, including some journalists in Israel, to characterize this as being a personal dispute is a mistake. Though there’s no question that the two don’t like each other, what is at play here isn’t merely a brawl between two overachieving powerful men who like to have their own way and don’t care much for those who contradict them. Their quarrel is primarily about serious policy differences that represent a fundamental disagreement about the alliance between the two nations and Israel’s place in the world. Obama’s stubborn refusal to treat the nuclear peril from Iran as an existential threat that must be met expeditiously can’t be put down to personal antipathy. Nor is Netanyahu’s refusal to accept Obama’s lip service to the question as an adequate response a function of his surly temperament. Though the personality conflict has aggravated the squabble, it would exist and probably be just as dangerous even if the two were thoroughly compatible.

(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government; Israel
KEYWORDS: netanyahu; nucleariran; obama

1 posted on 09/13/2012 3:06:46 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Obama has no time to meet Netanyahu on the eve of a very serious war in the MIddle East.

But he does have time for Jay-Z and Beyonce.
He has another appointment with Letterman.

Oh, of course he has plenty of time for multiple meetings with the “Muslim Brotherhood” band of vicious terrorists.


2 posted on 09/13/2012 3:09:15 AM PDT by Bon mots (When seconds count, the police are just minutes away...)
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To: Bon mots
History will most likely reflect that the Americans elected an unqualified socialist who destroyed much of civiliazation due to his ideology and pathological lying.
3 posted on 09/13/2012 3:21:07 AM PDT by Jumper
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To: Bon mots
History will most likely reflect that the Americans elected an unqualified socialist who destroyed much of civiliazation due to his ideology and pathological lying.
4 posted on 09/13/2012 3:21:13 AM PDT by Jumper
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To: Jumper

I agree. I believe much of the American public is incapable of the kind of limited government our Founding Fathers intended. It’s not 1980 anymore.


5 posted on 09/13/2012 3:29:31 AM PDT by MachIV
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To: Bon mots

Our leadership is looking weak and wavering. No reason our embassies are being attacked. Obama doesn’t seem to understand that appeasing and giving respect to the terrorists only appears as weakness to them and emboldens them. Romney calls him on it and the MSM is unleashed on him and they are only focused on bashing him for making the president look bad, for some reason forgetting the fact that they attacked a safe house in Bengazi which indicates forethought and premeditation and insider knowledge then killing an ambassador and 2 others. Then we find out that the movie that allegedly created the stir is made by someone that no one seems to know and is viewed and distributed only over there and viewed on 9/11!

Folks this is BS. This was a premeditated attack and the movie angle is a red herring used as an excuse to retaliate for the killings of key terrorist figures by the U.S. The uprising over a movie is borrowed from our own Western culture because the liberal left has gone insane and has knee-jerk reactions that are created and stirred by the MSM on an almost daily basis.


6 posted on 09/13/2012 3:31:31 AM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: MachIV

“. . much of the American public is incapable of the kind of limited government our Founding Fathers intended.”

Maybe. . Much, but not all. It may not be 1980 anymore, but that’s no excuse to give up.


7 posted on 09/13/2012 3:36:36 AM PDT by Twinkie (In whose eyes a vile person is contemned. Ps. 15:4a)
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To: MachIV
I agree. I believe much of the American public is incapable of the kind of limited government our Founding Fathers intended. It’s not 1980 anymore.

I think we're more like the heartbroken teenager lounging in bed for days or weeks after the end of that first true love. A good kick in the pants will get them moving again, and they'll be just fine. The problem is that the far left likes having them paralyzed with depression and dependent on the extreme left's generosity with other people's money.

8 posted on 09/13/2012 3:41:52 AM PDT by Pollster1 (Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Pollster1

That’s very true. It’s like they want to keep folks beat down on the plantation!


9 posted on 09/13/2012 3:52:56 AM PDT by MachIV
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To: Pollster1

If what is happening all over the ME isn’t a kick in the pants, nothing is or will be.


10 posted on 09/13/2012 3:54:41 AM PDT by MestaMachine (obama kills and bo stinks)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

11 posted on 09/13/2012 5:30:53 AM PDT by SJackson (none of this suggests there are hostile feelings for the US in Egypt, Victoria Nuland, State Dept)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

There is no feud between the nation of Israel and the nation of the United States. The feud is between the nation of Israel and the Obama administration, who hate Israel, Great Britain, and the United States itself.


12 posted on 09/13/2012 5:32:38 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog
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To: Bon mots
Remember ghetto radio, too. O gots no time for Bibi but always gots lots o’ time for jivin’ on ghetto radio.
13 posted on 09/13/2012 5:34:05 AM PDT by JPG (Make it happen.)
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To: JPG
Obama netanyahu
14 posted on 09/13/2012 6:04:32 AM PDT by Bon mots (When seconds count, the police are just minutes away...)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Has anyone noticed that this wonderful phone call the Pres__ent made was in the middle of the night in Israel. Now, either the Pres__ent is totally clueless about time zones, or he was giving Bibi the finger..... again.


15 posted on 09/13/2012 6:56:43 AM PDT by Grammy
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Didn't Obama disrespect Mr. Netyanahu (Sp?) the first time he came to the W.H.? I just recall that I was embarassed for the U.S.A. that day.
16 posted on 09/13/2012 5:16:15 PM PDT by Patsygirl
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