Anyone returning to the United States for the first time since Barack Obama's great victory cannot help immediately noticing the quiet revolution taking place there. The national agenda has changed, the public discourse is different, the neoconservative cynicism seems to have been erased from daily life, and George Bush's closed horizon has opened up. Therefore, it would be wise for Israeli leaders, from both right and left, to read Obama's autobiography closely.
It is difficult to imagine life stories, worldviews or mind-sets more different from each other than those of the U.S. president and senior Israeli politicians. If there are patterns of behavior that Obama is not fond of, to put it mildly, they are those that characterize Israeli politicians. The Israelis, from Shimon Peres to Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Olmert and Avigdor Lieberman, all tend to view the world in a one-dimensional fashion. They have an unshakable belief that all they do and believe is right under any circumstances and at all times. They look down on those who are weaker than them, but at the same time sink easily into whining and self-pity. Israelis, like spoiled children, always believe they deserve everything, immediately.
FULL ARTICLE
15 May 2009
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