At a recent press conference, President Obama made it clear that his relationship with Netanyahu is more ‘businesslike’ than anything else while also talking about why the hopes of a peace process in the Middle is dim.
In sidestepping any commitment to Palestine which seeks UN recognition, Obama said, “What we can’t do is pretend that there’s the possibility of something that’s not there, and we can’t continue to premise our public diplomacy based on something everyone knows is not going to happen. The issue has never been do you create a Palestinian state overnight, the question is: Do you create a process and a framework that gives the Palestinians hope?”
Ever since Netanyahu has been re-elected, the Obama administration has been going after him and especially with the intention of the Israeli government being questioned by the Wall Street Journal in spying on Iran talks while providing information to Obama’s political opponents in Congress.
Netanyahu hasn’t helped the relationship either given his recent decisions that have caused the administration to no longer hide their true feelings about him.
Some of these decisions include accepting John Boehner’s invitation to attack recent administration policies as well as ruling out the possibility of a Palestinian state. If that’s not enough, his bragging about approving the settlements so as to extend the border lines hasn’t made things any easier.
So, as it stands, it’s pretty clear that Netanyahu stands against everything that Obama stands for in regard to the Middle East: in particular, a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict.