December 3, 2012 -Obama Takes His Revenge on Bibi- Syrian Death Toll Keeps Growing

The Well, for those who were afraid that Obama would try to exact revenge on Bibi for seemingly supporting Romney, they had reason to be worried. Mind you, notice how I chose my words, revenge on Bibi, not on Israel. When it was a matter of our security and well being, (e. g. Operation Pillar of Defense), the Obama administration backed us fully. The U. S. continued to support us even at the U. N. when we were backed against the Palestinian attempts to become recognized.

However, now, Bibi took a domestic political action, with clear international implications. In response the U. N. vote, and to gain the right wing to vote in the upcoming election, Netanyahu announced the future building of settlements. Incidentally, this is a move that in the eyes of almost all Israeli observers will never actually happen. Despite the fact that his statement may merely be a case of public posturing, the U. S. has to come down as hard as it can. The U. S. has clearly given the European states the green light for even more harsh responses to Israel's actions- including the threat of calling their ambassadors back for consultations. The Obama administration also ensured that Rahm Emmanuel gave a speech at a closed session of the "Saban Conference", in which Emmanuel castigated Netanyahu. Emmanuel also made it clear that in his second term Obama would not tolerate being lectured to by Netanyahu.

Obama is showing that two can play the game trying to effect the Israeli elections. Pathetically, there are currently no Israeli politicians who are skilled enough, or positioned well enough to exploit Obama's help. The Israeli political scene remains very fluid. It will remain so until Thursday night, when the Knesset party lists have to be submitted. So far it seems like much ado about nothing. However, there are still almost two months until election day.

Around us the scenery is not getting any better. In Syria, it seems the Assad regime is finally on its final desperate legs. The killing goes on, with the latest tallies showing that over 45,000 people have been killed. No one knows how many countless more have been injured and maimed. Even when the immediate violence ends, Syria will be a very damaged nation-in every aspect. In addition, we have no idea how extreme the next rulers of Syria may end up being.

In Egypt, the confrontation between Morsi and the liberals continues. The liberals clearly were able to mobilize more demonstrators- in opposition to Morsi's latest actions-than Morsi was able to bring to demonstrate in support. Morsi is trying to arrange a constitutional referendum to approve his new Islamic constitution. However, so far, his moves are being blocked by the Egyptian judiciary. The final outcome remains very unclear.