take the lead in restarting peace talks. It also likely has to be done in a pretty dramatic way -- ie with him announcing a complete settlement freeze or Israel putting out their proposal for future borders - something they have never done.
I understand why HRC made these comments -- and hate the implied even handedness of blame - especially when the Republicans are blaming Obama for the deterioration of the relationship. The fact is that Netanyahu has lied to Obama for years - most noticeably during last summer's Gaza War, where he knew the President had his hands tied and wouldn't be able to respond (for fear that it could hurt Democrats running in 2014). Then Netanyahu went beyond just lying to Obama and lied to Israel about the US position - smearing Kerry and Obama in the process - all because he did not want a ceasefire yet (because the Palestinians were being blamed for not having one) because he wanted to "mow the grass" better. Add to that his progressively strong attacks against the negotiations with Iran. The fact that he included the P5 +1 in his axis with Ian and Yemen is dumbfounding.
So far, Netanyahu has walked back on his hateful pre-election statements, which in his mind means no one should consider them - but, they were said. More importantly, he finally responded to US demands and released the Palestinian taxes that Israel collected to the PA.
Obama has already made two strong efforts - under George Mitchell and then John Kerry, both exceptionally patient and credible diplomats. Nothing has IMPROVED since those efforts both failed and - if anything, Netanyahu's actions may have made starting another effort absolutely futile and possibly harmful to US credibility - already damaged in the region by Bush's invasion of Iraq and our constant support of Israel.
This is not a time to be implying that it was a mutual failure -- I bet mommy HRC would not have taken such an even handed tone had little Chelsea's best friend punched her in the face. There are times when it really isn't both sides. The US has NOTHING to apologize to Netanyahu for - other than maybe to apologize for enabling him through the years.
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