Obama-Netanyahu crisis meeting: Can leaders overcome lack of trust?

The White House was furious. Might the best evidence that Obama is still not over that affront be that no joint press conference was scheduled for today’s meeting? White House spokesman Jay Carney is not even holding a daily press briefing Monday, leading one White House correspondent to quip that the Obama team appears to be in “duck and dive” mode.       

This being a US presidential election year, Obama can’t allow his merely “functional” relations with Netanyahu to color broader US-Israel ties. In his speech Sunday to the influential pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Obama stated vigorously, “I’ve got Israel’s back,” and he made the case that his administration’s stepped-up military aid to Israel and closer intelligence sharing between the two countries is the best evidence that America remains Israel’s best friend and holds resolutely to Israel’s right to defend itself against any foe.

For his part, Netanyahu – who learned from the poor reviews he received upon returning home last May that publicly disrespecting the US president can be politically perilous – had positive words for Obama’s AIPAC speech. Speaking on a stop in Canada Sunday before arriving in Washington, Netanyahu said that “perhaps most of all” he appreciated Obama’s “declaration that Israel must be capable of defending itself, by itself, against any threat.”

Netanyahu repeated those words at the White House Monday, as the two leaders offered brief statements before a gaggle of reporters before moving on to private conversation. Each leader repeated his theme: Obama said that while he believes diplomatic pressure can still work with Iran, his policy is not simply containment of a nuclear Iran, but rejection, by all means that might be necessary, of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu thanked Obama for his strong words in his AIPAC speech the night before, but his emphasis was, much like Obama’s, not on the two leaders’ relationship but on the unshakable ties between their two countries.

Noting that the US and Israel face “common enemies,” Netanyahu said, “Iran’s leaders know that. For them, you are the Great Satan. We’re the Little Satan. For them, we are you and you are us,” he added, “and you know something Mr. President? At least on that last point, I think they’re right.”

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