Obama and Netanyahu will talk, but won’t say anything

Israeil Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington , and is set to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday. It will most likely be a business-like meeting: Obama will likely pay off the debt of promises he made to Democratic senators in exchange for their votes to approve the Iran deal; this debt includes advanced military equipment for Israel, and maybe even some funds. But nothing more – no defense pacts, no guarantees.

Netanyahu held up his end of the deal: He promised the White House that his speech against the Iran deal at the UN General Assembly meeting would be his last on the matter; and he has kept his word. The threats to urge Republicans in Congress to enact new sanctions have all but disappeared, as if they were never uttered.

Netanyahu is convinced that Obama is a disaster for America, and an enemy of Israel; Obama is convinced that Netanyahu is a pathological liar, and a disaster for Israel. Nothing they will say in public will change that reality.
In a meeting between leaders, after the cameras have been shooed out of the room, a sense of intimacy normally takes hold. Most politicians have similar domestic problems: They can vent about them to each other. They can maintain eye contact. President Bush once said that he learned the nature of a leader by looking into their eyes. He looked into Putin’s eyes and believed him. There is no chance that Obama will experience this sense of intimacy in his meeting with Netanyahu. Regardless, they have things to discuss.

For example, the issue of Jordan. The Americans know of the tear between Netanyahu and King Abdullah, and they are concerned with its possible outcome. The king has refused Netanyahu’s calls and has leveled some serious criticism against him. The reason for this has been the recent tensions over the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount is Jordan’s last true outpost in the territories. The Muslim world tasked the King of Jordan with safeguarding the holy sites. The government of Jordan pays the salaries of the Islamic waqf’s workers, and influences their actions.

At the height of the clashes on the Temple Mount, Netanyahu agreed that Jordan would be responsible for security cameras that will be placed at every corner of the Temple Mount. The government of Jordan’s announcement of the deal was supposed to make Amman appear as an active party in all happenings in the West Bank, while beating back domestic criticism over its peace with Israel.