Israel is a tiny nation with tiny interests. US manages world wide interests across every culture and geographic location on the planet.

This person obviously does not know how US politics work.

as PM, he could have made his life and everybody else quite easier if not for his inflated ego and messianic ideology.

Just a prop piece. The Prime Minister of Israel is more like being a mayor of an American city. In fact, many cities in America have bigger budgets and more people than Israel.

I was a soldier 19 years of age at that time and remember the mistake Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan made. She was in America at the time when Yom Kippur war broke. The intelegence notified them about huge movements on the Syrian and Egypt's borders that tanks and heavy artilary were digging them selves on the border.Golda did not take the advice seriously and we were caught with our pants down. The other mistake Moshe Dayan made after liberating Jerusulem was that he told the arab's to stay and gave the keys for the Har Habayit to the Waqt for which we are suffering till today.

I know Israelis think the weight of the world s on their shoulders, but the reality is that the US President, whether you like him or not, is the leader of the free world and whole the pressure may feel the same for a PM, he only has to concern himself with Israel, while the USA has to consider the whole planet. gIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!

you should have read the premise of this article and deleted it immediately after. i'm actually betting that editor who had to read through this poorly written, poorly argued, rambling mess is now slightly less intelligent than he or she was before receiving this article in their inbox. i certainly feel that way now. will you print anything?

The American Presidency is largely a sociological phenomenon. Israel is like a small boat compared to a huge shipwreck. The PM can indeed influence the course of the nation, the ruach, the identity, and to some extent the economy. The President is largely a foil for Wall Street and a proxy for the American conscience, such as it is. A PM like Golda Sheleynu caused us to reach deep within ourselves, even today we are richer for just the memory. The American President is there to make the people comfortable with their prejudices.

Israel is the most threatened nation in the world. It is far more outnumbered in the struggle. The Prime Minister has far fewer resources than the American President in dealing with problems. He has more 'existensial' decisions to make. The U.S. President has powers and leeway the Israeli Prime Minister does not.

You flipped your subject in this sentence... The US president eventually has to decide on whether the army will attack Iran's nuclear installations, but the Israeli PM has to deal with the seating arrangements at a dinner party for an American senator or the leader of Bolivia, among other things.

The American president is hardly the leader of the Free World. I know a Frenchman who almost choked to death laughing at that comment. This is an internal American myth. America has no record of being first to defend the downtrodden of the world, or to topple despotic regimes. It even ranks at the bottom per capita in Western foreign aid. Look at the real crises of the post-WWII era honestly, and the US missed MOST of them intentionally, even where it had the forces to jump in. Roosevelt gave parts of central, and all of eastern Europe to the Georgian tyrant Stalin. Greece, Hungary, Czekoslovakia begged for help and the US decline. Cambodia, Rwanda, Congo. Zilch. Many more. An Israeli prime minister is much more of a front line leader than any American president. Calm down the Yankee ego! You're good at many things, but you are not the top dog in genuine world leadership. You confuse being big with being right, and with being important. Not ALWAYS true, friends!

Zev, this has nothing whatsoever to do with size. You missed the point. Being big has nothing inherently to with leadership. There are other far more important factors. Nor is it about Obama or Netanyahu in particular, either. Shep, the US president more or less ignores most of the world. Why do you think that he concerned himself with the entire planet? And why do you think that an Israel p/m only worries about Israel? You'd be surprised to know how many Jews are well-positioned around the world. We've been working on our international network since long before there was a US. US stays out of many, even most, international crises, if you care to look at post-WWII historical fact.

Only a direct telephone connection is needed with the President of the USA. - May I go to drink something tonight in a restaurant, mr President ? Yes , Bibi but come back at 10'o clock exactly.

but, hell, it pays off nicely!

But you must admit, your PM cant do much without the USA. Just read all the articles on the US election. Israel is more concerned of who the next president is going to be in order for your PM's job to be made easier. What does Israel have that the USA need and what does the USA have that Israel need. When our sand and date reserves fall low, we'll let you know.

Well looks as if I am the only one sticking up for Golda Meir,she was/is right in the words of Winston Churchill when he was chatting wth David BenGurion in 1948,in England everyone thinks they can do a better job than me,where as in Israel everyone knows they can do a better job than you. Meanwhile talking about peace which has been going on for 70 odd years,thats just it talking thats all everyone does Jews & Arabs love to negotiate,wrong time of year,maybe after such and such election etc,what is needed is balls by all sign the Treaty and then make it work. To many cooks,Europeans and by default USof A always tripped over their own lack of intelligence when dealing with Asia and the Middle East. Shalom Rav!

... and a congenital liar the way Netanyahu is. FROM MAPAI TO LIKUD, ISRAEL HAS NEVER HAD A WORSE LEADER THAN NETANYAHU. Israel's relations with the Diaspora, the US and most of the Free World (all traditional supporters of Israel) are at an unnecessary all-time low as a direct result of this disastrous leader. But that's OK - Bibi's still in power - and that's all that counts in his calculus...

#5 Ronni, sorry but Golda was not in America when the war broke out. Golda depended on Dayan and Elazar to make the military decisions. The head of Aman, Eli Zeira said war is not possible. Neither the Sinai or Golan front were sufficiently reinforced with more armor. Who was responsible, Dayan, Elazar, Zeira, Hofi, Gonen. They are all guilty of the crime of arrogance.

He begged Golda & cabinet to take action in the hours before outbreak of war. He tried to do the right thing! But even the others were under extreme pressure from Kissinger for Israel to not be the party to open attack...