Obama's personal vengeance campaign

We can assume that the report in The Wall Street Journal, claiming that Israel spied on the nuclear talks between world powers and Iran, was part of U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign of retribution against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the two egregious "crimes" the prime minister committed.

The first, of course, was the speech Netanyahu delivered to Congress in early March, in which the prime minister dared question the emerging nuclear deal with Iran, which has been endorsed by Obama -- who does not have any foreign policy achievements and is seeking to solidify his legacy in Tehran of all places.

The second was Netanyahu's electoral victory last week, against all the prognostications and all the plans concocted by Left-supported nongovernmental organizations.

Because the U.S. president still has 22 months in office, we should probably expect to see more rabbits pulled out of the hat and other such surprises, like the one we saw published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The painful Jonathan Pollard case has left some scars. Israel does not spy on the United States. It is possible the U.S. holds similar principles, although the classified National Security Agency documents leaked by Edward Snowden prove the U.S. actually does know a thing or two about espionage and has proved it by tapping the phones of world leaders, for example German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But this really is not the story.

The story is Obama and Netanyahu's extremely frayed relationship. Behind The Wall Street Journal report is a clear desire by Obama to cast blame on Netanyahu, and no one else, for the spoiled relations between his administration and the Israeli government. The story is the Obama administration's aspiration to realize the two-state vision, even if Arab states today have a better chance of disintegrating than continuing to exist.

The story is Obama's desire to signal to Netanyahu that there will be a nuclear deal with Iran, at almost any cost. And this desire is primarily a signal to the Democratic senators in Congress: Do not join the Republicans, and do not help Netanyahu, even if a bad deal with Iran damages U.S. national security interests.

Anyone who read the Wall Street Journal report thoroughly, however, saw the revelation (whereby Israel is spying), but also a contradiction (whereby other countries involved in the talks are providing Israel with information).

Obama needs to understand that in this story Israel is not alone. There is also France, other Arab states and the Republicans. Netanyahu is not alone. And after last week's elections, Mr. President, I'm sorry to inform you -- Netanyahu is Israel.

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