Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: Reconsidering the two-state solution [View all]leveymg
(36,418 posts)has taken a number of steps in recent months that signal a big U-turn in the Mideast away from destabilization, regime change, and mounting militarization of U.S. involvement in the Sunni-Shi'ia conflict. That entails a distancing from the strategy of confrontation being pushed by Netanyahu. That has been a difficult disengagement, given the political head-lock AIPAC has on Capitol Hill.
I think more rational people in DC and Tel Aviv are beginning to recognize that they have unleashed a whirlwind across Sunni MENA that they cannot control, and that an explosion of civil war in Egypt threatens Israeli and American interests far more than Iran ever did or could.
The President's trip to Israel is an effort to calm and reassure the Israeli public, rather than a display of support for the current ruling coalition that might not survive very long.