The fumbling of the US-Israeli relationship may be one, long Obamateurism, but if so, it’s comprised of a series of amateurish stumbles along its trajectory to disaster. Consider last night’s meeting with Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu. In his interview with Bret Baier last week, Barack Obama insisted that relations between the two countries remain strong despite disagreement over an Israeli plan to build more housing in Jerusalem — which could only have come as a surprise to someone with absolutely no knowledge of the issue. But if the relationship was really that strong, why did Obama refuse to be seen with Netanyahu and pose for pictures with him, as is customary when friendly heads of state visit the White House?

Obama and Netanyahu conferred for about 90 minutes in the Oval Office, but in a break with custom reporters were not invited to see the close allies shake hands and begin their discussions. The White House had no immediate comment on what was discussed. Netanyahu did not leave the White House for another two hours after his formal talks with Obama, but what he was doing during that time was not immediately clear.

NBC’s Chuck Todd tweeted from the White House (via CentristNet):

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu departs White House after meeting President Obama, with no word on progress, no photo op, no press access

So Obama doesn’t want to be seen with one of America’s closest allies. Who will Obama allow himself to be seen with? Gateway Pundit reminds us of this photo:

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

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