It seems like you're always here.
You spent a lot of time in the US as a student and in business. You speak perfect English, and I'm sure you know our slang and idioms well. So, you would know:
- Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- Familiarity breeds contempt.
- Fish, house guests, and visiting dignitaries start to smell after three days.
It's not just that you're here, it's the way you're here. It's like you're some kind of big macher and everybody has to sit up and pay attention. Bill Clinton had a good fix on you when he met with you shortly after you became Prime Minister, the first time, in 1996. He spoke to his aides about you after that meeting, saying, "He thinks he is the superpower, and we are here to do whatever he requires."
This trip, you seem to be all in a pout that President Obama didn't invite you in for a face-to-face meeting. You leaked it to the press that you had hurt feelings, and you got a one hour phone conversation with the President out of it.
Did you really expect Obama to provide you with a White House stage, so you could do your "bomb Iran" song and dance? Please.
Has it occurred to you, Bibi, that you exhaust the trust of those with whom you deal? Last time you had an Oval Office meeting with President Obama, you uncorked this little gem: "We are you, and you are us." Do you think the President was unaware that there have been 27 countries that have suffered fatalities fighting side-by-side with the US in Afghanistan, and that your country is not one of them? The UK, Canada, and France are the top three.
The present situation vis-a-vis the US and Israel was summed up by your former coalition partner, Shaul Mofaz in the Kennsset on September 12, 2012: "Israel is not a problem. You are the problem, Mr. Prime Minister. You're the one that no one believes. It's your judgment that troubles them, and you are the one being set red lines."
I think he said you've become a noodge.
Comments are welcome at tomc[at]wednesdayswars[dot]com. Name and town if you wish to opine. Comments will be addressed in subsequent posts.