I think Bibi hearts us!

Quinnipiac University poll:

American voters disapprove by 44 to 35% of the way the President is handling the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.

Jewish voters disapprove 67 to 28%.

American voters say their sympathies lie with Israel 57 to 13%, that the President should be a strong supporter of Israel 66 to 19%, and that Obama is not a strong supporter of Israel 42 to 34% .

 

Speaking of public opinion, Channel Two did a great interview with Bibi. You should read it all.

....  In your best estimation and judgment, what is President Obama’s problem?

PM:  It’s not about people.  There is too much personalization on both sides… It’s a little naïve and simplistic to deal with the issue in this way.  In the end, two democracies like Israel and the United States act in accordance with shared values and interests that find expression in public opinion.  At the end of the day, we’re public servants.  Our public wants a peace process, but it also wants us to safeguard our vital interests: security, Jerusalem and others.

The American public wants to support the State of Israel and does so, and every American president, including President Obama, ultimately recognizes and expresses the fundamental support of the American people for Israel.  These things will help us overcome our differences.  I’m not papering them over and I’m not trying to hide them.  Those differences exist, but we share something powerful beyond these difference.

 

I can't resist one more quote.

"... whether or not there is progress, it won’t be because we didn’t want progress, but rather that the Palestinians climbed up a tree."

Palestinian children collect body parts of two Palestinian militants of the Al Aqsa Martyrs brigades killed east of Gaza city, Sunday, May 29, 2005. the two militants were killed and three seriously wounded when explosives they were carrying detonated in their car, Palestinians said. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

from Abba Gav's

Wacky World of Yahoo Mideast Photography

"... while most kids are playing hide-and-seek, or doing scavenger hunts, the Palestinians have their kids out playing spot-the-spleen. The goal is to climb the tree and whoever collects the most body parts gets a few jellybeans and a colorful "I hate the Jews" sticker.... "

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

Any American who reads the excerpted interview has to marvel at the differences between American journalism and Israeli journalism. It's hard to imagine any American interviewer asking Barack Obama questions as direct, as hard-hitting, and as unrelenting as those asked by the two Israeli interviewers. Not even Fox's Bret Baehr, in his deservedly-praised interview with Obama a few weeks ago, came close to this kind of tough, no-nonsense interrogation. Maybe it's a matter of "social distance." One gets the feeling that for the Israeli interviewers, Bibi Netanyahu is just another guy; for American interviewers, Barack Obama is alway THE president of the United States. That makes a big difference. The interesting thing is that -- despite their best efforts -- the two Israelis didn't really get much out of Bibi. He said as much as he wanted, but not much more -- and he proved he's every bit as skillful at evasion and platitudinous bloviating as Obama at his best (or worst). My guess is that the interviewers left the interview feeling frustrated and foiled -- as I felt after reading it. Maybe the lesson here is that a good politician is always an overmatch for a good interviewer, whether Israeli or American. Incidentally, as noted, the interview we read was excerpted; wouldn't all of us love to read the excerpts! They might leave us with a very different view of what's really going on in Bibi's head.