The best of frenemies BINYAMIN NETANYAHU, Israel’s prime minister, could not have hoped for a better soapbox. Two weeks before Israelis go to the polls, he will take his stand on the Congress podium at the invitation of the Speaker, John Boehner, a Republican friend of Israel. From this most visible stage Mr Netanyahu will present himself as the guardian of Israel’s security—in contrast to Barack Obama, who will be chided for his supposed readiness to yield in negotiations with Israel’s arch-enemy, Iran. To the ire of Mr Obama’s team, which tends to hold its nose when Mr Netanyahu approaches, the American administration was not even consulted in advance of the visit. In turn, the president refused to receive the Israeli prime minister.Mr Netanyahu’s rivals at home have been quick to accuse him of putting himself before his country’s ties with its chief ally. Mr Netanyahu is “harming the security of Israel and its soldiers for politics,” says his former minister, Tzipi Livni, now the main opposition party’s co-leader. Some Israeli generals, too, are worried. “Officially the level of co-operation in military affairs and the...
From The Economist: Middle East and Africa
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