September 11 , 2012-Relations Between Netanyahu Administration and Obama Administration Hit New Low

Relations between Netanyahu and the Obama Adminstration reached a new low today. Netanyahu publicly attacked Secretary of State Clinton for her statement that it was not yet time to announce any red lines. His face and body language showed how angry he was, but it crossed all normal diplomatic lines. It seems that Israel had quietly spoken to the American government about creating red lines, (something that Obama was leaning toward doing). However, when Netanyahu went public in an interview with a Candian journalist last week, the American government pushed back. Off course, all of this is tied into the sense in the Obama administration that Netanyahu is trying to influence the US elections. The level of distrust at the moment between the two administrations is at an all time high. This is not the first time Netanyahu and an American President have been at odds,last time Netanyahu was Prime Minister, he and President Clinton also did not get along.

There has been a great deal of talk in wake of the New Yorker article on Israel's alleged destruction of the Syrian Reactor. I reported about this mission the day after it happened. However, at that time, I was not here. So for the moment, I will use the term "alleged attack"- since for reasons that are not clear, the censor is still not allowing this event to be reported. One of the side stories here is how Barak (who was just coming into office as Defense Minister) wanted to wait so he could get more of the credit. In addition, some of the discussion has been about what Olmert’s political standing would have been if he had received the credit he supposedly deserved. It was only a short time later that Barak demanded Olmert resign over the Talansky Affair.