AL JAZEERA
by Marwan Bishara
January 25, 2015

The record of US President Barack Obama’s recent call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not made public. Here is how it went down, reckons Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara.

BN: Shalom, shalom, what a nice surprise, what’s up?

BO: Prime minister, let’s cut through the niceties! I don’t appreciate your continuous attempts to undermine me in Congress. Certainly not now and not on Iran.

BN: I did no such thing. I merely accepted Speaker Boehner’s invitation to speak to both Houses of Congress. Who wouldn’t! I did it in 1996, in 2011 and I would be honoured to do it again.

BO: No Bibi, let’s don’t do that; Don’t insult my intelligence! I know how your ambassador initiated the conversation about the speech with Congressional Republican leaders. You’ve been trying to undermine me from the start; not to mention supported Romney against me. It’s not ethical to go behind the back of the president of the United States and insert yourself into an internal American debate between the White House and Congress over US foreign policy. READ MORE