Indeed. Well reported at the time too. It was a case where Obama let his poor knowledge of Israeli politics find its way to the surface. He blamed Bibi for something someone else did to embarrass *both* Bibi and Obama. https://twitter.com/kampeas/status/1328800280184557568

Israeli politics can be complex. The difference was that Obama didn't let those with real knowledge close to him. He closed himself off into a bubble on Israel. Judaism as well--he decided the tikkon olamniks he knew were representative of anything and wouldn't hear otherwise.

Susan Rice told him Bibi's opposition to him was merely racism. Ben Rhodes told him AIPAC's mistrust of him was merely racism. He surrounded himself with people who lied to him in order to sabotage his relationship with Israel and the Jewish community. What might have been...

Madeleine Albright said she saw Netanyahu as just another Republican--like Newt. But Bill Clinton disagreed with her, saying he knew Bibi was trying to triangulate away from the settlers but needed help now that Sharon was back in fighting shape.

And Clinton, who couldn't stand Bibi but who at least *understood him*, got him to the table with Arafat to agree over Hebron. Wasn't earthshattering but it was a long way from Bibi's campaign rhetoric. Diplomacy cannot be successful if it's driven by caricatures.

Personal diplomacy between opposite-minded presidents and prime ministers has been successful, Begin and Carter being the best example. The idea that Right and Left can't work together is refuted by all of Israel's history. Knowledge and ideology are not the same thing.

I remember writing about how during the 08 campaign Obama made that impossibly silly comment on being 'pro-Likud' vs being 'pro-Israel.' It was the kind of remark you'd hear from David Remnick, and if Obama was getting his Israel news from the New Yorker it was a major red flag.

That red flag turned out to be predictive. He was taking the nonsense leftist strawmen and elevating them to the level of a president. There was no one in his inner circle willing or able to say: Mr. President, this is global diplomacy not a live-action blog.

This was frustrating because Obama is a very smart guy when it comes to the ability to see complexity in people. But when it came to this, he allowed caricatures and CAP clapbacks completely flatten his view of world affairs into two dimensions.

He needed advisors who wanted him to get it right. Presidents don't know everything about everything on Day One! But Obama's team failed him in ways that make you wonder how things could have been.

I don't know that that's the lesson of this particular blow-up, but it is true that Obama's UN resolution against Israel on his way out the door created such a mess that only someone willing to disregard the establishment could possibly turn it around. https://twitter.com/MortChristenson/status/1328819621516996608?s=20

Ppl think I'm going too easy on Obama but we all know he's capable of transcending personal feelings. But he let Bibi get under his skin. It happened to Jim Baker, who banned Bibi from the State Department. Lo and behold, Obama's and HW's records on Israel looked alike.