?This is probably not a very good morning for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,? Israel?s Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Wednesday.
Netanyahu and his Likud Party had actively supported Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in what Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz described as ?a rude, blunt, unprecedented, wanton and dangerous intervention in the United States election.?
On January 22nd, the day after Obama?s re-inauguration, Netanyahu will face Israeli voters in his own attempt to get re-elected.
The Jerusalem Post?wrote?Wednesday: ?Israel is now 76 days away from its own elections, elections the Obama Administration would just as clearly like to see Netanyahu lose, as Netanyahu would rather have liked to see Republican candidate Mitt Romney win on Tuesday night.
Reuters?reports:
Former Israeli ambassador to Washington, Sallai Meridor, suggested that Obama would not easily forget that Netanyahu had created a perception that Israel wanted Romney to defeat him.
Obama is ?very strategic, very disciplined?, Meridor said during a panel discussion on the U.S. election at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
?But I don?t think we can just assume that what happened between them over past four years will have just evaporated,? he said. ?When people fight for their political life and have the perception that their partner is trying to undermine their chances, it?s not going to disappear.?
Attacking Iran?
The bellicose Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast on Israel?s Channel 2 this week: ?If there is no other way to stop Iran, Israel is ready to act.?
The?Guardian?reports:
Obama?s reference in his victory speech to moving ?beyond this time of war? indicates his strong aversion to military confrontation with Iran.Two issues will characterize the relationship between the US and Israel over the next year. The first is Iran. Netanyahu has, for now, drawn back from his bellicose rhetoric of earlier this year, clearly indicating in his speech to the United Nations in September that Israel was unlikely to launch a military strike against Iran?s nuclear installations before next spring or summer.
This followed Obama?s refusal, despite Netanyahu?s best efforts, to be forced into specifying the point at which the US would be prepared to take military action, while insisting that remains an option if diplomacy and sanctions fail to halt the Iranian program.
Israel ? the political, military and security leadership, as well as the general public ? would much prefer joint action with the US, not least because of questions over Israel?s military capability to strike unilaterally. But Obama?s reference in his victory speech to moving ?beyond this time of war? indicates his strong aversion to military confrontation with Iran.
The second issue is progress towards a settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. This is the most likely arena for any possible ?payback?, especially if Obama decides, as so many previous second-term presidents have, that he wants to make this a legacy issue.
Netanyahu, whose inclination is to ?manage? the current situation in which millions of Palestinians live under occupation, rather than advance towards a two-state settlement of the conflict, will attempt to resist pressure.
Saul Loeb / AFP ? Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak during meetings at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2012.
By Martin Fletcher, NBC News
News analysis
TEL AVIV, Israel ? Payback time. That is what many Israeli leaders are worrying about on Wednesday, concerned that their prime minister backed the wrong horse in the U.S. election.
Instead of staying out of American domestic affairs during the U.S. race, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be un-subtly backing Mitt Romney.
On Wednesday, Yair Lapid, a young Israeli politician, spoke for many:
?During the election campaign in the U.S., the prime minister acted and spoke in a manner that was interpreted as blatant intervention on behalf of the Republican candidate, contrary to the customary relations between states. We call upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take immediate steps to mend the shaky relationship between him and the administration in Washington.?
However, analysts here point out it takes two to fight.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.
Barack Obama never visited Israel as president, he was cool toward Netanyahu in Washington, and he famously had himself photographed with his shoes on his desk while talking on the phone to the Israeli leader, a gesture understood by Israelis as a slap in the face. Showing the soles of your feet to someone is considered in the Arab world to be a mortal insult, hence the satisfaction among Arabs when an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and threw them at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad in December 2008.
Top 10 foreign policy issues facing Obama
But the analysts ? perhaps expressing wishful thinking ? insist that the poor relations between Netanyahu and Obama do not translate into American policy: America, they say, will remain true to the principles that have guided it in the Mideast for decades, in particular support for a two-state solution.
And personal relations aside, real issues remain unsettled, the most urgent being Iran. Many here believe that Obama in his second term will quickly move to repair relations with Iran by beginning direct negotiations over bilateral issues, as well as over Iran?s nuclear program.
US-Israel rift over Iran widens; Obama denies Netanyahu asked for meeting
Israel?s fear is that the United States will reach a compromise with Iran that Israel cannot live with.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In an attempt to convey what he sees as a threat to Israel?s existence, Israel?s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a cartoon to illustrate how close he says Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly he asked the world to help stop them. NBC?s Andrea Mitchell reports.
However, if America commits to some kind of agreement with Iran, it would tie Israel?s hands: Israel cannot act against the open wishes of its major supporter.
On the other hand, if Iran again rejects Obama?s overtures, that may pave the way for the ?all options are on the table? option ? in other words, a military strike that Netanyahu appears to believe is inevitable.
Under Obama, Israel also expects more pressure to resume talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu, many Israelis and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, as well as many other Palestinians believe that is pointless.
World leaders welcome Obama?s 2nd term ? but many challenges wait on his doorstep
The danger is that yet again Israelis and Palestinians will vie to appear most cooperative with Washington, while blaming each other for the ensuing stalemate.
In the spirit of diplomacy, Netanyahu quickly released a statement congratulating Obama on his victory and was reported to be trying to organize a congratulatory phone call.
?The strategic alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever,? Netanyahu said in a statement. ?I will continue to work with President Obama to protect the security interests of Israeli citizens.?
Analysis: Israel, Iran name checks illustrate America?s twin obsessions
For how long, though? Within half a day of President Obama?s inauguration on January 21, Israel will vote in its own elections.
Will Netanyahu get re-elected??And if so, will Obama pay Netanyahu back by sending not-so-subtle messages in support of Netanyahu?s adversaries?
Martin Fletcher is the author of ?The List?, ?Breaking News? and ?Walking Israel?.
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