Every executive has a story about a business trip gone badly awry, but President Barack Obama’s current visit to Israel might well top them all.
The trip began with the lowest of expectations, given that its ostensible purpose was to address the intractable conflict between Israel and its Islamic neighbors, which is so darned intractable that the even the very confident Obama seems to at long last have realized that his reputedly extraordinary powers of persuasion are unlikely to make a difference. For most of the past four years Obama has pursued an “even-handed” approach of antagonizing Israel with diplomatic snubs and talk of ’67 borders while obsequiously appeasing its neighbors with endless speeches about the glories of Islamic culture, a policy long urged by the international left, and thus far such even-handedness has succeeded only to the extent that the president is unpopular with both sides.
With Middle East peace as elusive as ever, Obama seems to have determined that at least he can salvage some standing with America’s traditional allies in Israel by making a long-delayed trip to the embattled country and enduring some chummy photo opportunities with its leaders. The Israeli leadership has happily obliged, which will suffice for the press to declare the trip a resounding success, but the process has been troublesome.
There was the symbolic tree that Obama planted in front of a phalanx of photographers, for instance, which made for a swell shot, and allowed Obama to note proudly that tree had been transported as his gift from America on Air Force One, but then the cheeky British press giddily noted that the usual rules against planting foreign plant life required that the tree quickly be dug up and quarantined. Even the American reporters were being uncharacteristically pugnacious, and during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the president was forced to laugh off a question about the complete lack of progress that has resulted from his past for years of leadership. Despite the outburst, Netanyahu was later overheard marveling at the “incestuous relationship” that the president seems to enjoy with the American news media. Then, of course, the car broke down. In a nicely metaphorical touch that even the most mainstream of news sources couldn’t ignore, the presidential limousine came sputtering to a halt after someone filled the tank with the wrong sort of fuel.
None of which is very consequential, although we suspect that if such bone-headed foul-ups had occurred on a Republican president’s trip the possible ramifications would have been more widely discussed, but thus far there is no indication that anything of consequence was achieved. The press can only speculate what was discussed in the important private meetings, and thus far the speculation seems to be that nothing of importance was agreed upon. Soothing the feelings of the Israeli citizens would be a positive development, but thus far the reaction from the Israeli press has been decidedly unimpressed. The feelings of American voters who take seriously the country’s longstanding friendship with Israel also needed some soothing, and Obama’s visit might help with that, but the final judgment awaits some news about what the two countries are going to do about Iran’s nuclear weapons program and other crucial matters.
— Bud Norman
The Central Standard Times 