Netanyahu-Obama meeting: Did someone forget to load the camera?

So much for that idea.

From the sound of silence being reported, two meetings between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went 0-for-2 in attempting to smooth over the rough relations between the two leaders.

In a traditional diplomatic dance that almost always produces a photo-op, you won’t even find so much as a blurry snapshot featuring the two men in the same room this week.

Did someone forget to put film in the camera?

The Times of London reports Netanyahu, “was due to fly home from Washington after three days marked by fierce Israeli defiance on the issue of settlements and an extraordinary silence maintained by both sides after his three-and-a-half hour visit to the White House.

“The meeting was overshadowed by Israeli approval for 20 new apartments being built for Jews in Arab east Jerusalem — a move denounced by one senior US official as “exactly what we expect Prime Minister Netanyahu to get control of.”

Adds the Times, “White House sources said observers were right to infer from the news blackout that relations between the two sides were not good, but later hinted that some Israeli proposals had been favourably received. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been shelved since 2008 and the US is struggling to persuade them to restart even indirect ‘proximity talks.’”

Netanyahu’s decision to move forward with development in East Jerusalem and the prime minister’s reckless rhetoric aimed at the Obama administration are clear indicators that Israel under the Likud coalition has no interest in compromising on the creation of a Palestinian state. That’s hardly a surprise given Netanyahu’s history.

But what is a wonderment are the supposed leader’s ill-advised remarks and actions – the pointless embarrassing of longtime Israel supporter Vice President Joe Biden being just one example – when the United States is fighting two wars in the region and is maintaining a hawk’s eye on developments in Iran.

Netanyahu’s billionaire armchair warriors in America, right-wing Republicans and rabidly critical of the Obama administration, clearly wield great influence with the prime minister. One example of many: American billionaire Irving Moskowitz is the moneyman behind the development of the controversial apartments in east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu’s problem is simple: He’s gone so far overboard with his rhetoric and actions with the U.S. administration he’s harmed his credibility not only in Washington, but on the world stage as well. He has made himself look more like a Republican operative than the leader of a nation.

In the Times, Eitan Cabel of the Likud coalition ally Labor Party, admitted, “Netanyahu decided to spit into Obama’s eye, this time from up close. He and his pyromaniac ministers insist on setting the Middle East ablaze.”