From Reuters:JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Pressure. Defiance. Collision. After George W. Bush's terms of endearment for Israel -- a country he once described as a "light unto nations" -- a different terminology is being used to describe its cloudy relationship with his successor, Barack Obama.
At odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Palestinian statehood and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the new U.S. president will try to patch ties with the Muslim world in an address he will deliver in Egypt on Thursday.
Israelis and Arabs will be listening carefully for one of Obama's expected messages -- policy Netanyahu has met with defiant words -- that creation of a Palestinian state is essential for peace and settlement expansion must stop.
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My Comment: The relationship has clearly changed. For the Israelis ... they are now focusing on Congress, and will try their best to avoid the White House on bilateral issues. The problem is that when it comes to foreign relations, it is under the purview of the White House and not Congress .... a fact that Israel is finding out right now.
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