Is Netanyahu Deliberately Trying To Tick Obama Off?

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley was so eager to respond to Israel's building in Jerusalem, that he didn't even wait for someone to ask the question:

MR. CROWLEY: ...She [Secretary of State Clinton] will do a number of things this week focused on Middle East peace. On Wednesday, she will hold a video conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad. She will also meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. And on Thursday, in New York, she will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The timing on the meeting Thursday is still a little bit up in the air, but we’ll have more to say about that tomorrow, I expect.

QUESTION: What location?

MR. CROWLEY: New York. Again, more details to follow. But that’s what I can tell you there.

Since we’re on the subject, I will mention with regard to the announcement of plans for 1,300 units in East Jerusalem, that we were – let me start again.
We were deeply disappointed by the announcement of advanced planning for new housing units in sensitive areas of East Jerusalem. It is counterproductive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties. We have long urged both parties to avoid actions which could undermine trust, including in Jerusalem, and we will continue to work to resume direct negotiations to address this and other final status issues. And I would expect this will be a topic of discussion when the Secretary meets the prime minister on Thursday.

Powerline's Paul Mirengoff thinks that Israel's current announcement of building--as opposed to the announcement when Biden was in Israel--is not a mistake:

The timing of the latest announcement, which comes in advance of a meeting with Secretary of State Clinton, surely was premeditated. Presumably, the timing was intended, at least in part, to demonstrate that Israel is not concerned about the prospect of additional attempts at bullying by Obama administration.

As I suggested last night in connection with Netanyahu's statement to Biden about Iran, in the aftermath of the American voters' rebuke to the Obama administration, the one-sided nature of Obama's relationship with Netanyahu looks like it's going to change.

Maybe so, but if that is the case, what is to be gained by appearing to directly challenge the Obama administration so publicly? Even if the Obama administration has been weakened as a result of the midterm election, it is one thing to resist pressure--it is another to purposely tweak their nose.

Pendulums have a tendency to swing back.

On the other hand, I just saw that Israel Matzav writes that Netanyahu is actually embarrassed by the report of new building:

Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is 'embarrassed' by word that came while he is in the US of another 1,300 Jewish apartments being approved in the Ramot and Har Homa neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Ramot has been a Jewish suburb since the late 1970's, and Har Homa has been a Jewish suburb since the late 1990's. If new houses being built in these neighborhoods embarrasses Netanyahu, he ought to resign. True supporters of Israel feel great pride at Jewish housing going up in Jerusalem.

Read the whole thing.

If I had reservations about Bibi being overly aggressive, I am even more wary about Netanyahu being this squeamish--let Netanyahu take a stand and stick by it.

But just make sure to stick by it.

Technorati Tag: Obama and Netanyahu.