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The Netanyahu-Obama relationship is so cold that one tends to discount a permanent factor in the prime minister's considerations in Jerusalem - the fear of the White House's response. An action that goes against the will of a president who is campaigning for a second term in office, especially on the eve of elections, is liable to exact revenge on the person who decides to take that action. But Netanyahu has nothing to lose: Obama in his second term will exact payment from him in any case. He will insist on a diplomatic agreement contrary to the line Netanyahu has been taking in the Palestinian arena, and possibly in the Syrian arena as well.

Ever since he took to the public stage in 1979, when he founded the Jonathan Institute, Netanyahu has been a frustrated pro-Republican. He had hoped to watch the fall of Jimmy Carter and predicted that his successor would be George H. W. Bush. (His father, Benzion Netanyahu, picked Ronald Reagan. ) Netanyahu spent all his years as a representative of Israel in Washington (as an attache at the embassy ) and in New York (as ambassador to the United Nations ) under the Reagan-Bush administrations. But as prime minister he has had to work vis-a-vis Democratic presidents - Bill Clinton in the 1990s and Barack Obama now.

If Obama loses the election, Netanyahu's dream will come true. Therefore it is likely that Netanyahu will do all he can to interfere with Obama defeating his Republican rival, Newt Gingrich. This is a gamble ... >>>