Did Obama Make Bibi Sweat?

Aluf Benn has a point: He writes that the delay in scheduling a meeting between Obama and Netanyahu in Washington this week was a reflection of the near-constant tension between the two leaders:

The White House wanted Netanyahu to sweat before being granted an audience with the president, and wanted everyone to see him perspire. The delays in finding a time to meet, and pushing it to a late hour - after the news programs on Israeli television - make Netanyahu look as if Obama threw him a bone. In such circumstances, it is no longer important what will be said at the meeting, and the extent to which there will be an attempt to present it as an achievement. The prime minister of Israel was humiliated before all. ... Netanyahu may be an experienced diplomat and politician, and Obama may be a novice, but Obama is the president of a superpower, and Netanyahu represents a small country that depends greatly on the United States.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2009/11/did-obama-make-bibi-sweat/29855/