Report: Netanyahu To Lead Effort to Thwart Obama’s Bid for UN Chief

Barack Obama has discussed running for UN secretary-general after leaving office, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t having it.

“Wasn’t eight years of having Obama in office enough?” Netanyahu is quoted in the Kuwaiti daily as telling associates. “Eight years during which he ignored Israel? And now he wants to be in a position that is liable to cause us hardships in the international arena.”

The newspaper cited the widely acknowledged fact that personal ties between Netanyahu and Obama are frayed.

“Obama is the worst president Israel has had to deal with and the worst president for the Middle East and its allies, the moderate Arab states,” a Netanyahu aide is quoted as saying.

A source close to Netanyahu did not deny to Al-Jarida that the premier is aiming to “torpedo the Obama project,” noting that “his presidency was characterized by [Washington’s] moving closer to the Muslim Brotherhood, toppling the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and attempts to ally itself with political Islam.”

Source: The Jerusalem Post

Barack Obama must feel beholden to run for the top UN position after so failing to earn the Nobel Peace Prize he received at the start of his presidency. Maybe if we all sent him a note saying he really doesn’t have to feel obligated  and that, really, he’s done enough, maybe he would change his mind. For now, Obama looks poised to retain as much power as possible, even if that means working for one of the weakest national coalitions ever created in the past two hundred years.