President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a face-to-face meeting next week. Once the professional topics have been fully covered and each side has read their respective shopping lists and insights (chiefly in connection with the Iranian issue), the chiefs of staff, the advisors and the aides will be given a slight hint to leave the room. [Prime Minister Netanyahu] Bibi and Obama will be left alone.
This tête-à-tête is the main and most important part of the meetings between leaders. It is at this intimate parley that a relationship is fostered, and trust and chemistry are created. When the ingredients are there, such a talk can be effective, focused and perhaps even historic. This was the case between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Bill Clinton, and Prime Ministers Sharon and Olmert and President George Bush. In this intimate atmosphere, the president can briefly lean forward to the prime minister, put a hand on his shoulder and ask: Tell me, Yitzhak (or Ariel or Ehud), what's the 'red line'? Where do you draw your line? How far are you willing to go? How do you see the comprehensive solution, and what's your end game? Let's be honest, just between the two of us, what will it really take for you to strike in Iran?