Ari Shavit did a piece in Haaretz last week asking, What is paralyzing Netanyahu? Why isn’t he acting, when the Arab peace initiative is about to expire and Europe is turning its back on Israel, and Obama wants him to act… David Bromwich’s smart response:
Netanyahu is not “paralyzed,” merely waiting. For what? The American election result. If the Republicans win a convincing majority, he’ll give up all pretense of listening to Obama. If the Democrats hold on to a majority, he will continue the pretense with a degree more responsiveness, for a few months. By then, the posturing for 2012 will have begun, and the pressure of popular and bought opinion against Obama’s negotiations will increase. Since the president did so little when he had a majority and personal popularity to use as leverage, Netanyahu trusts he won’t do more when the majority is narrow or non-existent and popular opinion has swung against him.
