Obama Not Terribly Happy with Netanyahu

If you were in the position of negotiation with a foreign prime minister, and progressive peace talks were starting to roll smoothly, wouldn't you find it irritating if that certain prime minister said a few objective things, collaborated with your opposing political party and absolutely halted any chance of progression in peaceful negotiations? Oh and adding to the fray wouldn't it be irritating if this was your ally? As of right now this is the situation between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A few weeks ago the Israeli Prime Minister came to the United States and gave a speech to many Congress members. This visit and speech had been suggested by  Speaker of the House John Boehner. This invitation was intended to demonstrate that foreign relations were excellent with Israel. Unfortunately, this also wasn't exactly kosher as any visit like this has to go through President Obama first. Republicans also didn't help the Netanyahu-Obama situation by sending a letter to Tehran, threatening to terminate negotiations over a Palestine two-state solution, and Iranian nuclear negotiations. These are the two issues that Obama and Netanyahu don't exactly see eye-to-eye on. Front and center is the Palestinian two-state solution that Netanyahu has done a total about face on, this makes this extremely awkward as the basis of the peace negotiations on the American side is a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. So as of right now, President Obama is not exactly satisfied with what Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying and doing.

If anything is to be done with Israel and the United States, Obama and Netanyahu have to get along. Not watering this down to the point where it becomes kindergarten type cooperation, but these two heads of state need to start cooperating so that action can be taken and things can actually be done. Unfortunately Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been historically uncooperative with Obama because of his stance and his party stance on international issues, and instead has been more cooperative with the Republican side of things. There is a bright side to this though as Netanyahu has been showing signs of support and cooperation for President Obama on other problems, this could mean future agreements and forward action to get the ball rolling with other pressing issues.

More information can be found at: 
Obama to Netanyahu
Netanyahu Comments Hurt Peace Talks
Republicans Downplay Netanyahu Position

Ad Attacks already Hitting Hillary

Political ad attacks usually hit home with many viewers and the people that they target; very soon people will be seeing them everywhere. This being said, the first ad to go after 2016 election cycle Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, was released this weekend and is planned to air in between Sunday and Tuesday news hours. The ad is yet to be seen by most viewers as it is was released under a small advertising buy of around $200,000.00. The political group that created the ad is a small neoconservative group that has shown incredibly strong support for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. This ad comes in light of another ad that was released by the same group, only this one was released via the Internet; the web ad (below) is extremely critical of President Obama and his administration as well as Hillary Clinton and their involvement with talks about Iran's nuclear program.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in strong disapproval of Iran's nuclear progress and this view sits well with a number of Republican party members. One of these Republican party members being John Boehner, who had invited Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States to give a speech addressing the House and showing his support for the Republican Party. Going back to the advertisements though the web ad made sure to include how "weak" the Democrats seem when it comes to foreign policy posing the question "Where is Hillary?". These two ads have started off the 2016 election cycle with a bang, already showing the battle lines that have been drawn between the parties. The power of the ads is a strong indicator about how and where political ads are spread and what information is included in them. The invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu has been put into the public eye as a sort of "peaceful gesture" and a display of how strong Republican foreign policy could be, as it shows that already Republican ties with Israel are "secure". While things may seem good for the Republican Party not many seem to agree with what they have done, this invitation and the follow up media have stirred some controversy. First off, the invitation of Netanyahu was not run by the President for his approval nor was he made aware of the whole affair until it was already planned and the information for the address was released to the media. Secondly, many of the House Democrats are with President Obama and do not approve of such a visit or a speech; this has led many to state that they will be boycotting the speech and hope others will follow suit.

In my personal opinion I do believe that the political ads released have all the right criteria to be effective in the political world. The ads are harsh, they have a clearly presented target and have issued a challenge to the Democratic Party. However what these ads are supporting isn't necessarily something that the entire public agrees with. This could affect how viewer opinions as well as approval of Republican political action. 2016 is a year away and the Presidential race is looming closer and closer as things start to heat up.


More information can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/27/group-backing-netanyahu-will-air-ad-attacking-hillary-clinton/?ref=topics
Link to the web video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6GdxbNrUf4#action=share