Obama confessed on Wednesday that there were things he could have done differently during his first term. It's an appropriate, truthful assessment, which was made in the Holy Land. The saccharine flood that the U.S. president unleashed when he cracked open Air Force One's doors was greeted by the fitting Zionist response: an all-embracing Middle Eastern warmth. That was how the president was received on Wednesday in Jerusalem, and I'm not sure what will be left for the Messiah.
One Rehavia resident, who stood eagerly awaiting the U.S. president just outside a police barricade in Jerusalem, said that Obama had purposefully chosen the spring equinox for his visit to Israel. The Jerusalemite then mentioned that the U.S. president also chose the weekend before Passover for his visit as did Jesus, who entered through the gates of Jerusalem this holy week — indeed, Obama fever has replaced Jerusalem syndrome.
For the past four years, commentators Israeli and American alike incessantly claimed that Netanyahu had shattered relations with the U.S., and that Obama would come to Israel to save the Jewish state from itself and its elected leadership. The only American jet that would fly over Israeli skies would be a bomber on its way to settle the score, those same commentators said. And yet, with Obama's visit, such theories are refuted; the U.S. is in our favor, and Jerusalem has a true friend in the White House.
It's possible that as the Middle East underwent seismic changes recently, so too did the U.S. president. Obama's tenth meeting with Netanyahu ended in embrace — huge amounts of U.S. aid, ongoing cooperation, shared interests and common values. And despite everything, one must separate a visit of good faith with the great accomplishments made behind closed doors. Those successes will be highlighted looking back.
Despite the glittering production and fanfare, Obama didn't plan this trip just to check one off his list and broadcast sincerity. Though the 44th president certainly flew to Israel to open a direct line with the Israeli people, he also came to draw red lines vis-à-vis the Iranians and determine exactly when the U.S. would greenlight an Israeli strike against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities, should the new government decide to do so. Today, though Obama will be speaking at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, they'll be listening from Tehran all the way to Istanbul.
