Why Israel’s President Talks to Obama, but Not to Netanyahu

Yael Even Or and Omri Nahmias, tabletmag.com

Rivlin image from

Excerpt:

Anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing the president of the United States smiling and laughing arm-in-arm with an Israeli head of state need look no further than Israeli President Reuven “Ruvi” Rivlin’s most recent visit to Washington last month. ...

[T]he pleasure that the two leaders took in the moment probably had even more to do with the heartburn they were causing for their shared foe: Netanyahu. ...

Rivlin’s complaints [re Netanyahu] often directly intersect with those of the White House. Such is the case with Netanyahu’s announcement in November on the appointment of Ran Baratz—a man who called Obama an anti-Semite and said that John Kerry had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old—his new director of public diplomacy. Ten days before the announcement, Baratz posted Rivlin’s photo from his flight to the Czech Republic on Facebook and wrote that his low-cost flight testifies to his irrelevance, joking that Rivlin is such a marginal figure that even ISIS militants wouldn’t want him as a hostage—“just take him.” While Baratz’s confirmation remains in limbo (people close to Netanyahu believe he’s not going to pursue this at the moment), the appointment is nonetheless seen as disrespectful and insulting to Obama, Kerry—and to Rivlin. ...