When Obama-Netanyahu just cannot tango
US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have never really been on the best of terms. But the ongoing shenanigans of the two leaders and their colleagues in Government, on the issue of a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 grouping, border on the farcical. The drama began with the Republicans, who control the Senate and the US House of Representatives, publically breaking ranks with the President and inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to address the US Congress. The invitation was sent without consultations with President Obama and sparked a fiery debate in the US and Israel over political propriety. But Mr Netanyahu was unperturbed. Driven by his larger duty, towards not just the citizens of Israel but Jews all over the world (who he claims to represent, whether they like it or not), he braved his way to Washington and, on March 3, addressed the US Congress. He made a persuasive speech but President Obama was not in audience and neither were 60 other Democratic members of Congress.
The Obama Administration had effectively boycotted Mr Netanyahu's visit; even sending Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry out of the country, ostensibly to avoid any awkward moments on the Hill. But the ‘BO-Bibi' primetime saga on the diplomacy channel did not come to end with the Prime Minister returning to Jerusalem. On March 9, 47 Republican Congresspersons wrote an open letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is also the lead negotiator on the nuclear deal from Tehran, explaining why any agreement that Mr Obama signs would have little value without the support of the US Congress. The argument stood on slippery grounds, as pointed out by experts, but why let facts get in the way of a good political potboilerIJ Understandably, the Obama Administration — having been on receiving end of such inane letters (at least one of which was sent by Indian MPs not so long ago) — did not see any humour in this, though the Twitter exchange between Mr Zarif and Senator Tom Cotton, the lead author of the letter, added a dash of masala, befitting a season finale.
In the next season, watch out for how the ‘election seekers’ and the ‘legacy makers’ perform. In the first category, there’s Mr Netanyahu who is facing a presidential election early next week and the likes of senior Republican leaders Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul who are all potential 2016 US presidential contenders. For now, the speech has not done much to improve Mr Netanyahu’s ratings at home (according to most poll surveys, he is trailing behind the Zionist Union coalition). Maybe (though unlikely), the letter will bring better luck for the Republicans. In the second category of ‘legacy builders’, we have Mr Obama who is not fighting for another term in the White House but, through the Iran deal, hoping to shine that one bright spot in his rather lacklustre presidency.