Tuesday March 6, 2012

I've Been Thinking:

Both President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the AIPAC Conference. Both gave similarly themed speeches. And on Monday they met in the Oval Office.

There seems to be an no disagreement in DC, on the Hill or in the White House. There seems to be wall to wall consensus on Israel’s right to defend itself from Iran. There is even an understanding that Iran is a real threat and that the Iranian goal is to develop nuclear weapons.

So, I ask, where and why do the tension and the conflict come from?

It is all a matter of style, of honor, of pride. Both the prime minister's office and the White House feel that they were insulted by the other - not during this trip and the insults are too insignificant to even mention at this point, but never the less, those perceived insults linger and they alter the tenure of the relationship between the leader of Israel and the leader of the United States of America.

This meeting in the oval office between Netanyahu and Obama was described as somber and professional - hardly a meeting of old friends. But honestly, I prefer somber and professional to the childish and immature behavior which characterizes previous meetings between these two men who should, by all rights, have become friends.

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