Bibi Bows to Reality

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have concluded that Barack Obama will be re-elected in November and that Israel would jeopardize its ties with his administration if it attacks Iran before then.

In public appearances Monday before and after a two-hour meeting with Obama in the Oval Office, Netanyahu stressed that U.S. and Israeli policy toward Iran is the same, despite clear evidence that they diverge in major respects.

The Israeli leader, addressing the American Israel Public Relations Committee on Monday night, vowed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and said that Israeli patience would not last “much longer.” But he did not define any red lines beyond which Iran could not go without facing Israeli military action.  And he was careful not to criticize Obama.

Instead, Netanyahu declared that “Israel has exactly the same policy,” as the United States when it comes to Iran. And he thanked Obama for imposing tough new sanctions against the Islamic Republic even while expressing concern that the sanctions had not stopped Iran from continuing its nuclear program.