If you are Joe Biden (and your knowledge of foreign affairs would fit in a thimble), what do you do when the Israeli Prime Minister tells you that, “The only way to ensure that Iran is not armed with nuclear weapons is to create a credible threat of military action against it, unless it stops its race to obtain nuclear weapons.”  You are stuck with a boss that either doesn't care if Iran gets nukes, or actually wants Iran to get nukes.  Maybe Joe knows which of these is true, maybe he doesn't.  But what promises can you make about US military action against Iran when your boss, the US President, doesn't like Israel, and members of his administration have actually refused to dispel rumors about the US shooting down Israeli planes on the way to bomb Iran if they traverse Iraqi airspace?  The answer is, you do the seagull salute, and hope to hell that you can change the subject.  Obama may think that no one messes with Joe, but clearly Netanyahu hasn't heard that. 

So what exactly was Binyamin Netanyahu doing when he said that to Biden, and why was it made public?  It is clear to most Israelis that the Obama Administration is not an ally.  The US is an ally, but not the current administration in the White House.  This should also be clear to Ahmedinijhad.  And the term "credible threat" is a euphamism for US military threat.  Netanyahu is forcing out into the public domain the idea that the US must make a final stand against Iranian nukes, and must do so militarily.  All while Obama is knee deep in muslims a few countries away.  Obama is sure to be asked about this, and he is sure to waffle. This gives Netanyahu a chance to firm up those in his own cabinet and government that don't think it is safe for Israel to go it alone on a first strike in Iran.  With Biden's fecklessness and simpleton views of the middle east and muslims (let's divide Iraq up into three parts, and each group can ethnically cleanse their area until they are happy), Netanyahu clearly didn't expect Joe to say anything meaningful.  Joe didn't dissappoint.  And Obama can barely disguise his hatred for Israel when he's hosting a peace summit with Netanyahu; he's sure to show his disgust while he's in Indonesia, the world's most populace islamic country.

Netanyahu must believe that the time to strike is coming soon, and that as long as Obama is in the White House, there will be no help from the US.  He needs to shore up his own suppport across the many factions that make up the Israeli government.  Israel has faced this challenge before, during the Six Day War in 1967.  They were surrounded by hostile forces, Egypt had closed the straights of Tiran, Syria was shelling northern Israeli villages from the Golan Heights, and Jordan was actively helping Palestinian guerillas slip into Israel to terrorize the populace.  President Johnson was not inclined to help the Israelis, what with being thoroughly involved in Viet Nam.  So the Israelis went on the offensive without US support and in six days of intense fighting, reduced the existential threat to their country.  But prior to the war, Eshkol and Dayan had to bring together a cabinet that believed that Israel could not win without a major power on their side and make them see that there was no longer any hope of getting the US on their side.  Netanyahu is in very near the same circumstances.  He must make sure his cabinet and government sees that there is no longer any use in waiting for the US to make a "credible military threat" because no such threat is coming. 

Israelis face another threat to the very survival of their nation.  And they face another US President who will not lift a finger to help them (though for very different reasons).  They cannot be defensive.  The Prime Minister is setting the stage for Obama to show that he will not help the Israelis.  Publicly.  Obama will do so because he has shown time and again that the great game of diplomacy is beyond his intellectual capability.  This will strengthen Netanyahu's hand in pushing for a first strike.  And without the US, a suprise first strike is all Israel has now on its side. 

Zol zayn mit mazl!