President Barack Obama and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu have been dominating the news as usual, but lately it may be for the wrong reasons. March 24 marked the beginning of what many thought would be the end. Netanyahu was supposedly stood up at the White House while Obama ate alone. The two presidents met twice, but for what many would consider briefly. Netanyahu was left to talk among his aides and a few of the White House staff. If the situation couldn’t get worse, it did. No photos or media coverage were allowed for Netanyahu’s visit — something that is expected for all allied nations.

Why the craze then? Netanyahu’s camp pretty much thinks it was disrespected during its visit. Media have called the Obama administration rude and said its actions are the latest ‘calculated snub by President Obama.’

As a Syracuse University student, I am predisposed to be somewhat accepting or tolerant of most views I am faced with. Netanyahu’s view, however, is one that simply can’t be accepted, tolerated or even rationalized. There is no legitimate reason to be upset because there was a seeming lack of transparency during a presidential meeting at the White House. That may sound wrong, but when taking into account the number of good decisions that have steered astray due to public opinion, I am glad this was not one of them. Obama simply wanted a meeting with no media coverage. Yes, he was allowed to talk bluntly and let his hair down, but this is what’s needed if the Israel-Palestine problem is to be resolved.

It becomes apparent that the parliamentary democracy of Israel is actually a cover-up for its neo-theocratic actions. In other words, Israel is committing acts that resemble a state based on religion and not democracy. If Netanyahu expects to expand settlements in the name of Judaism, he should expect to be called out on it by his main democratic ally. I am not one to point the finger, but it looks as if someone is doing something fishy and I think Obama smells it, too.

Netanyahu may have had the upper hand with President Bill Clinton because Clinton lost his health care battle and the Monica Lewinsky scandal didn’t look good internationally. Obama recently made U.S. history by creating universal health care, so for now he has a stronghold on the mediating position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to his positive international image. Obama is using his current power to gain leverage over Netanyahu, and he recently did that with the past meetings.

I’d say Obama is doing a fine job by asserting himself and showing the world that Israel can no longer call the shots in a conflict that is overdue for a solution. The media should refrain from criticizing the Obama administration for now and allow the president to flex his muscles in what seems to be an ever-growing aggressive Israel. Obama did win the Nobel Peace Prize. Let’s see if the deciding committee made a good choice.

John Sumpter is a junior international relations and Middle Eastern studies major. His column appears weekly, and he can be reached at jfsumpte@syr.edu.

Published on April 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm