Two roadside bombs exploded on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's way to the White House. The first was activated by U.S. President Barack Obama, who, during an interview with Bloomberg's Jeffrey Goldberg, threatened not to stand up for Israel were it to become internationally isolated. The second blast came from an article with information coming out of Jerusalem stating that settlement construction had mushroomed by more than 120 percent over the last year. It's strange any of this was that surprising. On the one hand, Obama decided to voice his opinions publicly just before his tete-a-tete with Netanyahu. On the other hand the government was careless -- instead of independently supervising construction, it allowed the enterprise to expand with no holds barred. Obama is probably going to give another interview in the next few days, pending Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' arrival. Former Minister Dan Meridor appropriately asked, why has the world been blaming Netanyahu while sparing Abbas? Speaking with Channel 1's David Witzthum, another former minister, Haim Ramon, repeated the same nonsense we've been hearing all along -- that demanding Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is unnecessary, as if such recognition would not effectively put an end to the "right of return" and demands on Israel. Each and every balanced observation has shown Abbas to be a peace refuser. We saw it with former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, and we see it now with Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On, who travelled to Ramallah on Monday. There, Abbas told Gal-On that the PA is demanding the release of more terrorists, beyond what was agreed. She failed to ask the necessary question: Why? If it is clear that Abbas does not want peace based on two states for two peoples, then there is no security that Netanyahu is interested in. But for world leaders, given their historical traditions and the balance of forces on the field, bringing their demands to the representative of the Jews is much more convenient. The problem is that Israelis contribute to the criticism of their methods. Surely everybody knows that at this point in time, a final agreement is unattainable. No one knows that better than the fertile mind of the Left, Dr. Yossi Beilin, who, in his Israel Hayom column on Monday, called on both sides to aim for an interim agreement. For this reason, it is unclear why the right wing in the coalition has refused to give Netanyahu the freedom to show verbal, actual, strategic and tactical generosity. Doing so even in the current round of negotiations could help Israel deal with the question of "Who's to blame-" -- just as in Barak and Olmert's respective terms. And where is the fear coming from? Could it be the prospect that Abbas is just about to soften his demands and make peace based on two states for two peoples? I wish. Unfortunately, that's a false fear. The right wing has sent Netanyahu to fight a losing public opinion battle because no rightist leaders, rabbis or politicians have the sophistication, diplomatic capabilities, soft touch or appropriate tact needed to reveal the truth about the enemy. It is in fact Palestinian leaders who have demonstrated these traits, having given Abbas a long rope. In the current circumstances, Israel has started to taste international isolation. But Netanyahu could reach a general understanding with Obama, who, whether he is weak or strong, is the president of the friendliest world power Israel has ever known, a nation that will stay powerful until the end of his term. In choosing between Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett and Obama, Netanyahu would be doing Israel a great service by bolstering his cooperation with the U.S. president, rather than reaching agreements with Bennett. Even he knows that.
