After the Hit: Obama Doesn't Have to Fear Anymore

The U.S. President will apparently have his second term. He’ll be seeking to leave his imprint, to make peace. Should Netanyahu still be his partner, then one of them is in trouble.

The Picture of Victory

…And seriously: the kind of success with bin Laden has occurred for Obama in perfect time. In these days, various Republican candidates are supposed to make a decision about running for the presidency in 2012. These are the days to call shots. Now, when Obama’s most dramatic point of weakness is wiped out of the campaign, when no one will any longer dare to discount his determination, his ability “to pick up the 3 a.m. phone call” — the key weapon of the Republicans has vanished from the arsenal.

In such a situation, it’s doubtful whether the high quality Republican candidates will decide to run against him. The serious Republicans will tell themselves: Why do I need this trouble now? It’s preferable to postpone the race to 2016, because the president in office won’t contend then (Obama would have served his second term) and Vice President Joe Biden will be too old — that will be a great year of opportunity for the Republicans. Not 2012. Therefore, the timing of killing bin Laden this week has been impeccable. True, the best time possible would be a week before the elections themselves, but the stage of warming the engines and raising the funds is a critical phase, too — and Obama has taken it in a knock-out.

It’s worthwhile to also pay attention to the picture released by Obama’s media team from the room crammed full of the heads of the administration surveying the live broadcast of the operation. Obama is sitting in a smaller armchair; on the left, next to him, a general in uniform, introvertedly watching the monitor. But one’s attention is actually drawn to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on the right side of the picture. Clinton is staring at the screen with her eyes open wide, one hand covering her mouth, in a posture of agitation or stupefaction, as if trying to prevent an intractable scream from accidentally escaping from her throat.

Out of hundreds of pictures taken in the course of the event, the White House chose to release precisely this one to the public the next day. A picture channeling a good deal of machoism, an image returning the U.S. Secretary of State and the one who had attempted to challenge Barack Obama to the position of a little woman by his side.

There is a mini-revenge here, served cold — yet tasty. In the primaries of the Democratic Party, when Clinton opposed Obama, it was she who brought up the question of whether the young junior senator from Chicago would be able to answer the red phone at three in the morning, and what he would do should intel on Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts be received.

Obama said then that if the Pakistanis did not apprehend Osama when the info on him was received, the United States would do that. Clinton told him that there was no special need to wait for the Pakistanis. The bill with bin Laden should be settled fast and with all might, not waiting for anyone’s favor. Two and a half years have passed, and Obama is the one who has closed the bill — with bin Laden, and with Clinton as well. Which proves that in everything concerning the internal American politics, the guy is a real master.

Obama — “for Israel”

In order to make the victory complete, he asked his predecessor, President George W. Bush, to accompany him at the visit to ground zero he held yesterday. Such a picture of victors with Obama, coming back to the epicenter of catastrophe after he wasted the evildoer, and ashamed George Bush beside him, could have been a picture tipping the scales of the next term. But Bush, nobly, waived the pleasure. “This is your moment,”* he told Obama. All that is left is to bring in mind parallel pictures over here, when something good happens: how all the politicians hurry up, sweating — those connected to the development as well as those who are not — to barge in and gather the edges of the mantle of the star being shot, and try to make a place for themselves there, within the frame.

Last Wednesday, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Obama took a part in a fund-raising event for his campaign. There were about 60 businessmen there, most of them heavy millionaires from Wall Street. You should understand: Wall Street people like Obama just as much as Yitzhak Tshuva likes Sheshinski.** And still, Obama dedicated more than two hours to this company. He answered all their questions.

It could be assumed that the percentage of Jews at the party was especially high, even in terms of New York — and yet, no single question Obama was asked was on the subject of Israel. They asked about Libya, about Egypt, about Syria, about oil prices, about domestic policy, about China, about the economy. They didn’t ask about Israel — meaning that our story, with due respect, does not really interest the Americans at the moment. Neither does it interest Obama.

Yes, September will finally come, and he will be called to the matter, but it’s not for sure he’ll decide to really jump into the water. For this, there is a second term (if he is elected to it). Then, he’s going to be a different Obama, a way more dangerous Obama than he is today.

At the end of that dinner in Manhattan, Obama walked and shook hands with people. One of them, a particularly rich Jew, whispered to him, “The time has come for you to visit Israel.” Obama whispered back to him, “Workin’ on it.” The question is, what more are they working on? Will the Obama administration devote energy in the coming year to achieving an Israeli-Palestinian agreement? Will he establish the famous presidential program? Not sure at all. The fact that Dan Shapiro, who held this case until now, has been appointed to the United States ambassador to Israel is not clear.

An ambassador, with all respect, is not a leading factor in such moves. From Netanyahu’s standpoint, there are two conflicting pieces of news here. One is good; it may be that Obama does not intend to deal with him in the year to come. The other one is bad; it’s possible that Obama is to get a second term. During that next term, when there’s no need to worry about reelection, Obama will be striving to leave an imprint, to gain a heritage, to make peace. Should Netanyahu still be his partner, then one of them is going to be in trouble.

[The piece constitutes an excerpt from a larger article dealing mostly with local Israeli affairs.]

Notes:

*This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.

**This refers to a local Israeli scandal.