Had It in Holland Park

Benjamin Netanyahu Plays Politics In Congress

It was nice of Bibbi to thank Mr Obama for all the things he had done for Israel, including funneling all those America tax dollars to the Israeli government, before trying his best to sabotage the ongoing negotiations of the United States of America with another country.

It was a great election-campaign move for Mr Nettanyau, At best he showed that he has the power to scupper any move by Israel's greatest ally and to bitch-slap the country that feeds his government.  At worst, he showed the Israeli electorate that he can make the congress of the most powerful country in the world stand up and sit down like puppets.

As the pundits said: his speech benefited the hard-liners in both the US and in Iran, making any kind of deal less likely - which makes a nuclear-armed Iran more likely.

One never knows in the middle east, but I suspect that this is what Mr Netanyahu intended: a nuclear-armed Iran means there is all the more reason for his hard-line party to retain power in Israel.