# Possible rift between Mossad and Netanyahu on Iran negotiations -- who is right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 22, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564 "2015-01-22T12:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/41 "2015-01-23T14:48:34Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > He is to speak to Congress on Iran. You don’t seem to understand, but Iranian nuclear program is a big issue to Israel and to Netanyahu, and Obama’s wishy-washy approach to it is a big worry. So if the talk is to strengthen US opposition to Iran’s nuclear ambitions it is worth the perceived slight to Obama administration, which is among the most hostile ever to Israel anyway. And if the talk weakens the US’s ability/likelihood of defusing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, as I (and others) believe it does, it certainly wouldn’t be worth the slight. Obviously Netanyahu (and his supporters, and you) disagree. I see no evidence that Obama’s administration is “hostile” to Israel – it just disagrees a bit more, and is less inclined than some other administrations to go ahead and do exactly what Israel wants. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/42 "2015-01-23T14:58:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And if the talk weakens the US’s ability/likelihood of defusing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, as I (and others) believe it does, it certainly wouldn’t be worth the slight. Obviously Netanyahu (and his supporters, and you) disagree. Obviously disagree. > [@](#): > > I see no evidence that Obama’s administration is “hostile” to Israel – it just disagrees a bit more, and is less inclined than some other administrations to go ahead and do exactly what Israel wants. Again, strongly disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/43 "2015-01-23T14:59:04Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > He is to speak to Congress on Iran. You don’t seem to understand, but Iranian nuclear program is a big issue to Israel and to Netanyahu, and Obama’s wishy-washy approach to it is a big worry. So if the talk is to strengthen US (and I mean Congress, Obama is lost cause) opposition to Iran’s nuclear ambitions it is worth the perceived slight to Obama administration, which is among the most hostile ever to Israel anyway. I don’t see any talk as strengthening anything - these are just photo OPs. And regardless of what Congress wants, Obama is going to have a very big impact on US policy to Iran. It seems pretty obvious to me that the negative as to Obama would outweigh the positive on Congress (if any). Especially as a lot of Democrats would rally to Obama if they perceived it as a slap to him. But even if by some miracle Bibi succeeded in persuading congress to do something against Obama’s will and override his veto, it would only enrage Obama even more. No good will come of it. I once heard the assessment of some diplomat (or perhaps it was an intelligence official, but I think a diplomat) that Bibi is “all tactics and no strategy”, and I think this is an example of that trait. There is no end game to this. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/44 "2015-01-23T15:03:25Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I don’t see any talk as strengthening anything - these are just photo OPs. And regardless of what Congress wants, Obama is going to have a very big impact on US policy to Iran. It seems pretty obvious to me that the negative as to Obama would outweigh the positive on Congress (if any). Especially as a lot of Democrats would rally to Obama if they perceived it as a slap to him. > > But even if by some miracle Bibi succeeded in persuading congress to do something against Obama’s will and override his veto, it would only enrage Obama even more. No good will come of it. > > I once heard the assessment of some diplomat (or perhaps it was an intelligence official, but I think a diplomat) that Bibi is “all tactics and no strategy”, and I think this is an example of that trait. There is no end game to this. I believe Israel has given up on any hope that Obama will do anything good for it and is waiting out the less-than-two years to see someone in the White House who is not hostile to it. As I said, thank God for term limits. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/45 "2015-01-23T15:05:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I believe Israel has given up on any hope that Obama will do anything good for it and is waiting out the less-than-two years to see someone in the White House who is not hostile to it. As I said, thank God for term limits. Netanyahu may believe this (against reason, in my view – disagreeing and not doing everything he wants is not “hostile”), but I see no reason to believe that the entire country does. The Israelis who have chimed in in this thread seem to prefer Obama’s approach. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/46 "2015-01-23T15:05:51Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I believe Israel has given up on any hope that Obama will do anything good for it and is waiting out the less-than-two years to see someone in the White House who is not hostile to it. As I said, thank God for term limits. Even if someone won’t do “good”, there is still bad and worse. And I don’t think Israel has that much time on it’s side WRT the Iran issue specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/47 "2015-01-23T15:18:26Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The Israelis who have chimed in in this thread seem to prefer Obama’s approach. 1. I am Israeli. 2. I don’t think Alessan in any way indicated that he “prefers Obama’s approach”. Maybe he does. But he certainly didn’t say so in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/48 "2015-01-23T15:32:08Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > And I don’t think Israel has that much time on it’s side WRT the Iran issue specifically. What do you base that on? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/49 "2015-01-23T15:55:12Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > This is an artificial tempest… I can’t possibly be the only person who sees the irony (it would be uncharitable to say "hypocrisy, right?) here. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/50 "2015-01-23T17:35:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > 1. I am Israeli. My mistake. I thought you were American (maybe you’re both). > [@](#): > > 1. I don’t think Alessan in any way indicated that he “prefers Obama’s approach”. Maybe he does. But he certainly didn’t say so in this thread. You might be right. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/51 "2015-02-07T23:27:07Z")
Resurrecting this thread because the ADL’s [Abe Foxman](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/even-abe-foxman), among many others, is now suggesting that Netanyahu should cancel his speech to Congress. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/52 "2015-02-10T09:54:10Z")
A [plurality](http://www.timesofisrael.com/nearly-half-of-israelis-want-pm-to-cancel-congress-speech-poll/) of Israelis think Netanyahu should cancel the speech (47% to 34%). ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/53 "2015-02-18T02:30:02Z")
On top of that last poll of Israelis, Americans oppose Netanyahu’s speech to Congress by [nearly 2 to 1](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cnn-poll-boehner-netanyahu-invite). ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564/54 "2015-02-18T02:56:07Z")
Perhaps I am over/under thinking this, but it possible that both the Americans/Israelis are lying re the leak. It seems in many cases these leaks are either trial balloons or attempts to shore up support among ones base. One nation acts offended at the other in order to appease their base of support. Its possible that both want details of the supposed story leaked - and are using this diplomatic spat as cover for one or both back home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-rift-between-mossad-and-netanyahu-on-iran-negotiations-who-is-right/710564.md?page=2)