Obama's Defeat Will Definitely Not Be Netanyahu's Victory

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office won’t be biting their fingernails tomorrow, hoping for a miracle that will save the Democratic Party from a setback in the congressional elections. In Benjamin Netanyahu’s circles, many are hoping that a weak Obama will be good for Israel. They assume that a president who has had his wings clipped in the middle of his first term will devote the second half of his term to fighting for reelection.

And it is no secret that snow on the roof of a house that a voter in Oklahoma lost last year interests him more than a construction freeze in Elkana. That is, assuming the settlement freeze interests him at all.

This is not the first time Netanyahu has proved that not everyone who speaks with an American accent understands America. Nor is the learning curve followed by this prime minister, who was educated in the United States, a cause for wonder. Netanyahu has learned that a Democratic president who loses a majority in both houses of Congress in the middle of his first term can be more of a “problem” for the Israeli right during the term’s second half.

Last week marked the 15th anniversary of the U.S. law calling for the American Embassy to be relocated to Jerusalem. As opposition leader, Netanyahu concocted this law with his Republican friends, who won a historic victory ‏(after 40 years of Democratic control on Capitol Hill‏) in the 1994 congressional elections. At the time, Democratic President Bill Clinton announced to Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole that, despite recognizing of the depth of the feelings that some Congress members have about Jerusalem, he would not accept any action that could hamper peace negotiations. Clinton signed an order suspending the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 ‏(as did his successor, George W. Bush, with Obama following in their footsteps‏).

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http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/obama-s-defeat-will-definitely-not-be-netanyahu-s-victory-1.322217