>> Amazing. Maybe the wind really is shifting?
>
> Yup, maybe so. Ha'aretz has a piece saying that Obama's about to give
> Netanyahu a talking-to. We'll see what that means, if anything.
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Netanyahu's election gives the US a better chance to force the Israelis to
bend a bit to reach a "deal" with a Palestinian government which includes
Hamas - the idea being, of course, that you need a de Gaulle to withdraw
from Algeria and a Nixon to go to China because they won't draw fire from
the right for doing so that a liberal politician accused of "treason" would.
The US badly needs a Palestinian state, or at least the appearance of one,
to contain Iran, to shore up the Saudi and Egyptian governments, and to
reduce the influence of radical Islamists elsewhere, notably in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Obama's talking-to will likely be aimed at splitting the
Netanyahu wing from the Lieberman one on the Israeli right.