"Netanyahu is Obama's Khrushchev"!

[inna]

(The analogy is obviously historically incorrect and even a little comical, but Steve Clemons makes some interesting points here.)

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2009/07/note_to_white_h/

Note to White House: Netanyahu is Obama's Khrushchev


Netanyahu is very clearly Obama's Khrushchev.

Netanyahu is poking the Obama White House, ridiculing his foreign policy team, and launching preemptive strikes at the very necessary deal-making that Obama must move forward in the region to shore up America's power position and global relevance.

The Moskowitz-Netanyahu Plan to expand settlements in East Jerusalem, clearly over the red lines set by previous presidential administration and Israeli prime ministerships, is designed to pommel Obama and deflate his power in the eyes of other regional stakeholders.

Obama needs to politely crush Netanyahu -- and do it with a smile, without losing his temper, just as Richard Wolffe -- in his new book Renegade: The Making of an American President -- describes Obama doing to political foes he politely vanquished.

If Obama doesn't find a way to knock Netanyahu down off his perch, then Bibi will define Obama rather than Obama leading and setting the key parameters for a new, forward looking, stable Middle East equilibrium.

Netanyahu doesn't want to play along with any form of negotiations process -- even a fake one of the sort that Elliot Abrams generated in the past. He wants nothing at all to work on the Israel-Palestine front -- and believes he can wield Congressional power via his levers in the American Jewish community to create painful costs for the White House that ultimately constrain the President's latitude.

Obama has no choice. If he acquiesces to Netanyahu, which the Israel Prime Minister is counting on, then the game is over in the region -- and America will slide down a long, slippery slope of nations doubting America's global leverage and competence to accomplish objectives it sets out for itself.

...

Khrushchev tried to define Kennedy -- and nearly succeeded.

Kennedy ended up making the right choices and scuttled Khrushchev, shutting down his antics and deflating his power.

Obama must do no less with Benjamin Netanyahu.

[timeforpeace]

1. What a waste of precious bandwidth.

[LeftishBrit]

2. I agree that Obama has to deal rather firmly with Netanyahu; but N. is hardly parallel to Khrushchev

(1) Khrushchev was a powerful dictator; Netanyahu is the (barely) elected leader of a weak and divided government.

(2) America was in a cold war with the Soviet Union; America and Israel are allies. Neither is going to nuke the other!

(3) The Soviet Union was a world power; Israel is a very small country with little power.

(4) Etc.!