Saudi Arabia and Israel: A marriage made in heaven?

When will the lion lie down with the lamb? Well, not any time soon. When will Israel lie down with Saudi Arabia? Well, right about now, judging from “warnings” emerging from neo-con windbags gods like Charles “Krautman” Krauthammer, who says that the failure of President Obama to intervene in Syria, plus his obvious desire to cozy up to Iran, has to make the Saudis “wonder what kind of friend is the United States and can they survive the American friendship.” Meanwhile, Lee Smith, less hampered by divinity, is already flat-out advocating an alliance: “in the wake of a bad American deal with [Iranian President] Rouhani, the Israelis may come in quite handy [for the Saudis], as the only local power capable of standing up to a nuclear-armed Iran or stopping the Iranian nuclear program in its tracks.” Paul Wolfowitz, prescient as always,* was making nice with the Saudis waaay back in April of this year.

Why are the leading citizens of AIPAC Nation suddenly liking the Saudis, a nation that has spent untold billions on vicious anti-Semitic propaganda over the past few decades and teaches its kids that Jews are “apes”? Well, obviously, they like part of the tune the Saudis are whistling—heavy U.S. involvement in the Middle East to “reform” Syria and deter Iran. But that, of course, is exactly what President Obama is not fixin’ to do.

It will probably never be known if the president’s decision to allow Congress to decide if the U.S. would bomb Syria was guileless or guileful. It’s very hard to believe that the last-minute, “Putin to the rescue” finale was planned in any way, but it all worked out splendidly for the president. By allowing the Tea Party caucus to attack the idea of U.S. intervention in the Middle East as a means to attacking him (which they will always do as a matter of reflex), Obama strengthened the anti-intervention wing of the Republican Party in an extraordinary manner. Old Bull John McCain suddenly sounded like an old man who needed a nap and a sedative.

Obama topped that by suddenly embracing the new president of Iran, a stunning move that I think no one would have predicted only a few months ago. Back in 2011, the question seemed to be how long can Obama avoid being pressured into bombing Iran. Two years later, we’re taking them out to lunch.

Okay, things haven’t gone that far. A real deal with Iran is probably beyond the president’s grasp. The Tea Party is going to oppose pretty much anything the president proposes, and the sanctions legislation enacted back in the days when AIPAC determined U.S. Middle East policy forms a powerful barrier to any agreement. But to hear Charles Krauthammer saying how awful it is that Obama is being so mean to our good friends the Saudis, well, that’s rich.