Oopsie

So, this caught the eye of the SO who passed it on to me. While any moments of honesty from a politician are usually good for a few quality chuckles, this spat in the boy's locker room is especially noteworthy.


French President Sarkozy says of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu "I can't stand him anymore, he's a liar," to which US President Obama replies "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."

The US and a few European allies have always adopted a pro-Israel stance, often blind to serious issues that need to be addressed - settlements, sanctions, blockades, human rights abuses, you know little things like that - a stance that Australia has slavishly followed with little critical analysis.

To hear this from a US President is certainly a far cry from when Clinton said he'd take up an assault rifle and fight Israel's enemies himself if he had to (a gung-ho statement that, for a moment, reduced the entire Israel-Palestine issue to high slapstick).

An off-mic gaffe is hardly going to shake the world. I have no doubts that these opinions are no secret behind closed doors. I'm certain every time Israel has a crisis, Netanyahu's calling to an aide "Get my trained bitch, the US President on the line!" Just as I bet every time Netanyahu rings the White House Obama probably rolls his eyes and says "What's this douchebag want now?"

Still, it is good for us to see this sort of stuff, it humanises our political figures, and also casts a new light on issues which are often presented to us as a fait accompli.