Oh, and by the way, they added, you wouldn’t mind if we sort of flew over Iraq to get to Iran, would you? As in: That’s not much of a problem, is it? — our carrying bombs over Shiite Iraq, in which you have stationed 140,000 crusading troops, to drop on Shiite Iran? But, as I said, even though the entire idea was almost inconceivable to the rational mind, it was, these days, hardly shocking. Because Israel appears more than ready, willing and eager to further endanger its closest ally’s national security only to protect its own. Exactly why Israel thought that bombing Iran would indeed protect its national security is another story — one as out of touch with global reality as its grossly disproportionate actions in Gaza.

So Obama is left with irony heaped on paradox. His closest ally in the region has shown a boundless capacity to stick its finger in virtually everyone’s eye — our national security be damned — yet his negotiating maneuverability with Iran is lethally constrained by domestic political pressures.