"In some ways, Bibi is too strong [and] in some ways Abu Mazen is too weak …" said US President Barack Obama concerning the stalemate in the Middle East’s diplomatic negotiations during an extensive interview he granted analyst Thomas Friedman from The New York Times Aug. 8. “… Netanyahu’s poll numbers are a lot higher than mine," and " were greatly boosted by the war in Gaza,” he said. According to Obama, only internal pressure will lead Netanyahu to compromise.

Obama is not alone. Just a little over two years ago, in May 2012, Time magazine devoted its cover story to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the heading “King Bibi,” crowning him as the omnipotent king of the State of Israel. This, in fact, appears to have been the working premise of the Obama administration ever since the beginning of Obama’s presidency: Netanyahu is strong. There’s no point in messing with him. We should accept him and make the best of it.

Incidentally, less than a year after this fabulous Time cover story, in January 2013, Netanyahu took part in the elections, but was not pitted against any serious contender. There was no real alternative to vie for the premiership. Yair Lapid, the current finance minister, was back then a journalist who had recently left the TV studio. The socialist Shelly Yachimovich from the Labor Party was too powerless to win. Naftali Bennett, the current minister of economy and trade, had served as one of Netanyahu’s underlings not long before that. Avigdor Liberman, the current foreign minister, was unable to break through the glass ceiling of the Russian electorate.

Yet, despite running for election under ideal lab conditions and having virtually no competition, Netanyahu was barely able to garner 20 seats on his own — roughly 16% of the popular vote. Had he not teamed up at the last minute with Liberman, who garnered 11 extra seats, Netanyahu would have been unseated by Yachimovich, Lapid or someone else.