Israel alliance was rattled this week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unexpectedly declined to visit the US to meet with President Barack Obama later this month. The two world leaders had planned to meet this month when Netanyahu was scheduled to visit Washington. Initial press reports had sources from Netanyahu's office suggesting that the reason for the cancellation was that Obama was unable to accommodate Netanyahu. When administration officials denied such a conflict, Netanyahu tried something else: aides said he had decided to cancel his trip to Washington due to concerns over appearing to influence the US presidential elections. While it might be entirely appropriate for Netanyahu to demonstrate heightened sensitivity to America's domestic politics, it should be noted that four years ago, such concerns did not stop him from meeting with Obama close to Super Tuesday. And in the summer of 2012, Netanyahu hosted GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Also, the White House only found out about the cancellation through the press. Its spokesman chided Israel for the way it canceled the meeting, saying it would have been "good manners" for Israeli officials to tell the White House directly. These are strong words from Washington because it is now clear that Netanyahu deliberately snubbed Obama. The US-backed nuclear deal with Iran, which Netanyahu controversially spoke out against in a visit to Congress in March last year, was seen as a low point in the exceptional alliance between the two countries. At that time, the White House accused Netanyahu of a breach of long-standing diplomatic protocol when he announced plans to speak to a joint session of Congress without consulting or notifying Obama. Netanyahu used that speech to implore US lawmakers to reject the Iran nuclear deal which Israel sees as emboldening its arch enemy. Fissures between the two have also emerged over the terms of a new 10-year, multibillion dollar military aid package. The current $30 billion package, meant to mollify Israel over the Iran deal, will run through 2017. The US has long ensured Israel's qualitative military edge in the region, but Netanyahu has asked for more funding than the Obama administration has been willing to allocate. In a sign that he might be willing to walk away from talks with the Obama administration, Netanyahu suggested in February that he might wait for the next administration to work out a military package. This is not the first time the Obama administration has been caught off guard by Netanyahu. When Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel in 2010, he was taken aback by previously unannounced plans by Israel to construct 1,600 settler homes in the West Bank. Biden condemned the surprise plan while the Netanyahu administration indicated embarrassment and apologized for the situation at the time, but the incident fouled relations with the Obama administration. Perhaps coincidentally and perhaps not, Biden was in Israel again this week at the time of the Netanyahu cancellation. Israel and the US have been seeking to move past deep disagreement over the Iran nuclear accord but the unusual cancellation of Netanyahu's visit and the pointed pushback from the White House was the latest signal of ongoing tensions between the US and its closest Mideast ally. It's not only the nuclear deal with Iran. Relations never fully recovered after US-led Palestinian-Israeli peace talks broke down over Israel's continued expansion of Israeli settlements. Then came Netanyahu's surprise re-election victory early last year that apparently made him so overconfident he pledged no Palestinian state would see light during his watch. It seems Netanyahu is willing to show public contempt for a lame duck Obama who leaves office in nine months. But to cold-shoulder him when he is close to losing his powers and almost an afterthought shows cowardice and disdain from so close an ally.
