Netanyahu, the Republican Strategist

Only one man in the world can get away with interfering in American politics like this.

http://theweek.com/article/index/233198/5-reasons-netanyahu-is-challenging-obama-over-iran

This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the Obama administration to task for refusing to set "red lines" on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, arguing that the U.S. had forsaken its "moral right to place a red light before Israel" if it chooses to attack Iran....

Netanyahu's blistering remarks "suggested that he is willing to use the pressure of the presidential election to try to force Mr. Obama to attack Iran," say David E. Sanger and Isabel Kershner at The New York Times. Netanyahu is "highly attuned to American politics," and knows that Mitt Romney has accused Obama of being soft on Iran and a bad friend to Israel. In demanding that Obama "effectively issue an ultimatum to Iran," Netanyahu is "making maximum use of his political leverage." Indeed, says Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo, "Netanyahu knows that his leverage... grows each day the U.S. gets closer to election day. The day after election day it drops precipitously."

2. He is essentially endorsing Mitt Romney

Many see "Netanyahu's rhetoric as an implicit endorsement of Romney," who has argued that "Obama's biggest foreign-policy mistake was failing to halt Iran's nuclear program," says Uri Friedman at Foreign Policy. During the recent Republican and Democratic conventions, both sides used Netanyahu's previous "statements to argue that the Israeli prime minister was on their side." To come out so forcefully with a GOP-friendly line is a clear pushback against the Democrats.