The White House denies that Benjamin Netanyahu ever made an overture to meet President Obama in the US later this month where they are scheduled to address the UN. Instead, the White House insists that because the two leaders were attending the General Assembly on different days and would not be in New York at the same time, they would not be able to meet. But it simply cannot be that Obama cannot make time for the leader of what is arguably America's closest ally. Rather, it appears that Obama has given Netanyahu an extraordinary snub, mainly over Iran, one country that the two leaders do not see eye to eye. Logistically, nothing is easier than holding the meeting. Obama is due to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 25 while Netanyahu will give an address on Sept. 28. Netanyahu's office had offered a solution to the leaders' scheduling problems by having him visit Washington before his UN speech but the White House politely rejected the suggestion. It looks like Obama felt it was time to put Netanyahu in his place on Iran. The avoidance of a face-to-face meeting could signal US displeasure with Netanyahu's intensifying push on a specific ultimatum to Iran. Word that the two men would not meet came on the same day that Netanyahu said the US had forfeited its moral right to stop Israel from taking action against Iran's nuclear program because it had refused to be firm with Tehran itself. Obama believes there is still time for sanctions and diplomacy to work while Netanyahu wants to take the short cut to stopping Iran's nuclear activities and rebukes America for not being as gung-ho. Israeli settlements are another bone of contention. Obama maintains their illegality while Netanyahu keeps whipping them up. Netanyahu has more than once embarrassed Obama on settlements — a lecture from Netanyahu in the Oval Office and the Biden fiasco in which the VP was in Israel condemning settlements just as Netanyahu approved plans for more settlement construction — are two of the famous humiliations the White House may be trying to avoid, and countering back on. Seeking to put Netanyahu in his place might not go down well with pro-Israel voters as Obama seeks a second term in the Nov. 6 presidential US election. Obama has been seeking to shore up his advantage over Mitt Romney with Jewish voters who could make a difference in battleground states Florida and Ohio. Obama received 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008 but a Gallup poll in June showed him down to 64 percent backing versus Romney's 29 percent. The White House insists Obama did not spurn a possible meeting with Netanyahu because Netanyahu never made the overture. But it simply does not happen that an Israeli prime minister goes all the way to the US and does not meet the president. Despite the strain in ties between the two leaders, only once did they not meet, when Obama was out of town when Netanyahu came calling in 2010. Hillary Clinton, not Obama, will meet Netanyahu at the United Nations. The Obama cold shoulder will certainly make for a more heated rivalry.
