"The scorecard"

Via FLC

"... Obama’s real target, by this logic, was European governments, ... Obama is worried about Europe because the votes of European nations will determine whether the United States is isolated with Israel in opposing a U.N. declaration of Palestinan statehood in September. By stating the principle of a settlement based on the 1967 lines, and showing his willingness to publicly take on Netanyahu, Obama won some European sympathy. He will find out how much during his meetings during this week’s European tour, when he will argue that EU governments should continue to support a U.S.-brokered peace process rather than a U.N. declaration.

This is a priority for Israel, as well ... But Netanyahu had another purpose — rallying congressional support for Israel’s peace terms, ... Israelis counted the ovations as a victory. One official noted to me that Netanyahu collected 28, compared to 26 for Obama at the last State of the Union address. But the Israeli leader has pursued this strategy before. As he himself said, he addressed a joint session of Congress 15 years ago; at that time, he was at odds with the Clinton administration. But congressional support didn’t spare Netanyahu from Clinton’s ire — and Israeli voters punished him for his disputes with the White House by voting him out office. Evidently, the Israeli leader feels confident that history won’t repeat itself."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 1:25 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian