Red lines, deadlines, and end games: Netanyahu turns up the heat on Obama

While Netanyahu has been rattling his saber all summer, the Israeli leader has found his position on military action increasingly isolated, both at home and abroad. Even his erstwhile wingman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, has now reportedly backed off pushing for a strike that would damage ties with the U.S. A number of Israeli and American military establishment figures have warned that a solo strike by Israel could, at best, briefly delay Iran’s progress, but at the same time ensure that Iran goes ahead and builds a bomb. And without the diplomatic consensus fashioned by the Obama Administration, Israel find it difficult to prevent Iran forging ahead with a covert program.

Perhaps it was the need to create a face-saving retreat from his constant threat to scramble the bombers that had prompted the Israeli leader to begin pressing for the alternative of a declaration of U.S. red lines and deadlines. Now, it appears, the Obama Administration has made clear that it’s not going to have its Iran script written by Netanyahu. And that portends an election season of noisy complaints from an Israeli leader who’s never exactly been shy about letting Americans know what he thinks of their President.