In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night, President
Obama inadvertently suggested an approach to the Middle East that places
Israel on a par with its Arab neighbors, calling Israel “one of our
closest allies in the region.”Actually, Israel is by far our
closest ally in the region, the one nation in the Middle East that can
provide significant and reliable military support in the event of war.But
Obama during his presidency has pursued a more “even-handed” approach
with respect to the Arabs than his predecessors, maintaining a rocky
relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and moving the
starting point for negotiations with the Palestinians back to the
pre-1967 borders.In the interview, Obama also suggested his
contempt for Netanyahu, referring to the Israeli prime minster’s pleas
for a tougher line against Iran and its nuclear program as part of the
“noise” he has to ignore when making national security decisions for the
United States.Wonder which other "Allies" in the Middle East he would consider as close as Israel?