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Israeli assessment: Obama is losing his magic

Wednesday, November 11, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

TEL AVIV Ñ A leading analyst has projected that President Barack Obama will be less capable of imposing pressure on Israel in 2010.

A report by a former senior Israeli diplomat asserted that Obama and the Democratic Party were rapidly losing support and faced a debacle in elections for Congress in 2010. The report, authored by former Israeli consul-general Yoram Ettinger, cited Republican victories in the November 2009 elections as well as a sharp decline in Obama's approval ratings.

"As Obama's charisma dissipates, so does the enthusiasm of Democrats on Capitol Hill to facilitate implementation of Obama's policies," Ettinger, regarded as a leading Israeli analyst on U.S. politics, said. "They would be especially hesitant/reluctant to enable the imposition of pressure on Israel, which enjoys deep support among most constituents and legislators."

Ettinger, said to have strong contacts with the Republican minority and conservative Democrats, said Israel must study the decline in American support for the Obama administration. He said the Democratic Party defeat in the latest national elections could turn Obama into a "lame duck president faster than his predecessors at the White House."

"The outcome of the November election is, also, relevant to U.S.-Israel relations and should cause reassessment in Jerusalem," Ettinger said in an analysis titled "Warning Signs to Democrats and Obama."

The report was released on the eve of a meeting by visiting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Obama at the White House. The two men were said to have met for 90 minutes and neither discussed the session in public. On Nov. 10, the White House termed the meeting as good.

In 2009, Ettinger, with close ties to senior members of the Netanyahu government, was virtually alone among prominent Israeli analysts who urged Jerusalem not to capitulate to Obama's demands for a freeze in Jewish construction in the West Bank. Unlike his colleagues, Ettinger said Israeli supporters in Congress would block Obama's intentions to spark a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations.

The biggest change in wake of the latest national elections could come from Democratic members of the House and Senate. Ettinger said despite victories in such states as New York, the Democrats were increasingly concerned over the prospect of a Republican Party sweep of Congress in 2010.

"They are concerned about the burst of Obama's invincibility bubble and about Obama's potential transformation from a political asset to an electoral liability," the report said.

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