Netanyahu Visits Egypt and Jordan (Update)

Last week the Jerusalem Post reported that CIA Director Leon Panetta visited Israel in early May to issue a demand that Israeli rhetoric concerning the Iranian nuclear threat be toned down a bit. The Obama administration was trying to line up international support for its proposed sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear activities and considered the Israeli saber rattling counterproductive. I suspect the US demand only hardened Israeli resolve to act militarily to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

In view of this, the purpose of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's unprecedented visits to Egypt and Jordan for summit meetings with President Mubarak and King Abdullah before his summit with President Obama can now be surmised with greater clarity. As I noted previously Iran was the primary, if not the only, topic on the agenda at both meetings. It is my opinion that following the US warning Netanyahu was seeking assurance from two of the three (the third being Saudi Arabian King Abdullah) leaders of the Arab anti-Iranian coalition that they would not be unduly alarmed if Israel ignored the US arm-twisting, and that Israel would still have their tacit support for any action against Iran. I would think that he also sought assurances that any developments on the Iranian issue would not adversely (for Israel) affect their existing positions concerning the Palestinian problem.

And so, with Egyptian and Jordanian implicit support for Israel on the Iranian nuclear issue the results of the Netanyahu-Obama summit should not be a surprise. I'm sure it was politely made exceedingly clear to Obama that Israel had no intention of backing down from its hawkish stance at all. Finding it so easy to defy the ill-advised command of the novice president of the greatest power on earth, I'm sure Prime Minister Netanyahu subsequently experienced no qualms whatsoever ignoring the US demand to halt the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.

In less than one month the president who promised the electorate change in his campaign speeches may very well have delivered a significant change for our foreign policy in the Middle East. But, somehow, I don't think the American people expected the change to be loss of prestige, respect, and the ability to shape and influence events in that vital region of the world.