"He Spat In Our Face Publicly and That's No Way To Act. There Will be A Price."

++The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is hot on the story of the Bibi speech. Apparently the quote for the story is from the White House. What is at issue was that President Obama called Bibi and told him not to intervene between the fight between him and Congress on the Iranian sanctions. That was at least one week before the Boehner invite.

++According to Haaretz it was at Bibi's request that AIPAC and the Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer racketed up their pressure on urging tougher sanctions against Iran. That was what pissed Obama off.

++Israeli papers, including the Jerusalem Post,are now concentrating on the threat Bibi poses to the bipartisan consensus for Israel in the United States. That is one of the reasons Mossad felt it urgent to make its position known that they favored Obama on Iran. 

++American writers are circling around this issue in a way that isn't favorable to Israel. Aaron Miller, an old Israel hand, writes in the Daily Beast that this was just Bibi playing a last minute bid to shore up his election. But Gary Larison goes deeper and explores the fact that Israeli Prime Ministers have addressed Congress five times since 1995, far more than any other allies of the United States. He goes on to point out that we are not bound by treaty to Israel and starts the argument that Israel is more trouble than it's worth in terms of American national security interests.

++We not seen this type of argument since General Petraeus testified before the Senate that Israel was an impediment to our Middle Eastern policy. When the Beltway erupted at these remarks, Robert Gates doubled down on this assessment.

++The awful irony is all this is that President Obama has extended a ten-year security deal with Israel, provided them with the Iron Dome anti-missile system that worked during Hamas attacks and also the latest bunker buster bombs. It has been President Obama who personally ordered the vetoes at the UN Security Council against condemnation of Israel on the Gaza bombings and the initiatives to recognize Palestine. 

++What will be the price Israel will pay? 

++The best thing would be Bibi to excuse himself from the visit. While both parties support Israel and often try to outdo each other in that support,this ploy at this time is interfering with the foreign policy of the United States, which has greater interests than Israel's. 

++We are used to tensions between the leaders of our two countries. Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin  practically loathed each other. But Menchem would not arrange a visit to the United States for the express purpose of "critiquing American foreign policy", the words of John Boehner.

++The more I read the Israeli press the more I appreciate why their national security establishment is having a stroke. 

++More will emerge and AIPAC has to ready their damage control team.