Pomp and Arrogance

"We thought we’ve seen everything. But Bibi managed to surprise even us."

"There are things you simply don’t do. He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price."

Unnamed Obama administration authority

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politely acceded to an invitation and a request to address a joint secession of Congress, from by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehmer. However, President Obama is said to be livid with rage that he had not been consulted before the invitation was extended, and he has no intention of meeting with his Israeli counterpart in Washington, extending a "long-standing practise and principle" where the president exercises political prudence not to meet with heads of state or candidates when their elections are close at hand.

To be clear about the relationship between Presidents Netanyahu and Obama, there is no love lost, and the latter has often treated the former with undue disrespect of a quality that speaks to undiplomatic enmity on the part of the American president. "The typical protocol would suggest that the leader of a country would contact the leader of another country when he is traveling there. That is certainly how President Obama’s trips are planned." said White House press spokesman Josh Earnest.

U.S. President Barack Obama is a busy man, much in demand since his presence, as arguably the most powerful man on Earth as president of the United States of America, the most powerful nation on the planet, reflects on whichever host country welcomes him on a state visit. His scorn and contempt for heads of nations is to be avoided at all costs, however, since to face his wrath is to ensure that his decisions will not benefit any nation whose leader has offended him.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, meets with US president Barack Obama, at the White House, Washington DC on October 01, 2014. (Photo credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO) Scanning the two faces, one smiling the other frowning, does this appear a meeting of consensual equals with a matched agenda benefiting both countries?

"The Prime Minister is expected to arrive in the US at the beginning of March and will also participate in the AIPAC conference. The speech in front of both houses of Congress will give the prime minister the opportunity to thank President Barack Obama, Congress, and the American people for their support of Israel."

"I look forward to the opportunity to express before the joint session Israel’s vision for a joint effort to deal with [Islamist terrorism and Iran’s nuclear program], and to emphasize Israel’s commitment to the special bond between our two democracies."

Statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu's office

President Bill Clinton looks on Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres writes the president's name in Hebrew after they sign a joint declaration on terrorism, Tuesday April 30, 1996 at the White House. (photo credit: AP Photo/Ruth Fremson)

Such perfect friends and allies, it's absolutely heart-warming. As for the protocol that Mr. Obama's office now identifies as not permissive of his meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, it appears that a former Democratic President had no such scruples, since President Clinton saw nothing whatever amiss in meeting with Shimon Peres  in 1996 a month before an Israeli election. 

And nor was this an extraordinary occasion of bypassing protocol since back-checks of previous meetings with world leaders reveal other similar meetings. During the Obama administration that check made clear that a 2009 meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel two months before German federal elections hadn't bothered the administration, nor did a video teleconference in 2012 with French president Nicolas Sarkozy a month before Francois Hollande took office giving France a socialist government.

On the other hand, President Obama is planning to be in India on the occasion of the grand parade celebrating the anniversary of India's constitution as the 'largest democracy in the world'. President Obama will be there as the "chief guest", the first American president so honoured and so honouring India. Over 40 American aircraft will be transporting 1,600 U.S. administrative and other personnel to the event.

The Obama administration and security requested a five-kilometre no-fly zone to accommodate the president. However, the Rajpath parade is inclusive of a military flyover, so that was refused. India's spanking new Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys huge popularity in his country, and in his visit to the United States last September Indo-Americans turned out in their tens of thousands to celebrate his visit.

In 2005, it is worth noting, when Prime Minister Modi was chief minister of Gujarat, he had been denied a visa to visit the United States. As leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party he has been accused of not acting to prevent a massacre of Muslims during riots in his state in 2002. He has never admitted responsibility. The prime minister is thought of now as the strongest and most visionary in recent Indian history.

Who will be meeting, during his country's grand celebration as a "sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic", with another man credited with being a visionary and a hope for the future. Let's hope that India has better luck.