***UPDATE***
Ed Morrissey points out this morning that Obama basically said in his speech yesterday that the US would not be coming to Israel’s aid if they had to defend themselves as they have in the past. So much for them being an ally:
As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself – by itself – against any threat.
I think this got overlooked yesterday with all the talk about the pre-1967 borders. And while it doesn’t surprise me all that much, the fact that he said it in a speech that was broadcast in English, Arabic and Farsi to all the world just invites Israel’s enemies to fight fight against her.
When Allen West said yesterday that the recommendation of pre-1967 borders was a foreign policy blunder of epic proportions, this just as another level of ‘epic’ to that statement.
So when Obama and Netanyahu meet today in Washington, isn’t it going to be awkward…maybe even a little? I mean how do they sit down and talk after this anti-Israel speech?
***
UPDATE: Just the latest on how this is playing out, via the Jersualem Post:
US President Barack Obama told aides that he does not believe Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be able to make a peace deal, The New York Times reported on Thursday night.
Obama reportedly said that Netanyahu can not make the concessions necessary for peace.
The Times also reported that the timing of Obama’s speech was planned intentionally to preempt Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Tuesday.
A day before their scheduled meeting in Washington, Netanyahu and Obama staked out dramatically conflicting positions Thursday as to the path for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu issued a quick, bitter response on Thursday night to Obama’s landmark Middle East speech, saying that the establishment of a Palestinian state could not come “at Israel’s expense.”
Back to my earlier point…so will they be twiddling their thumbs at dinner?
—