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viewpoints » S e n d l e t t e r s t o : l e t t e r s @ t h e j e w i s h n e w s . c o m 8 January 21 • 2016 TU B'SHEVAT It's Rosh Hashanah for the tree. So plant a boyml,* two or three. Then hob geduld** un vart a bissl*** Un you'll get frucht,**** a gantze shisl.***** Farges nor nisht****** to share with me. * boyml — little tree ** hob geduld — have patience *** un vart a bissl — and wait a little **** frucht — fruit ***** gantze shisl — a whole bowl ****** Farges nor nisht — only don't forget — Rachel Kapen Yiddish Limerick T he relationship between President Barack Obama and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been politically turbulent — which is, admittedly, understating the fact — for the last seven years, and PBS, on Frontline, broadcast on Jan. 5 a two- hour documentary that examined what led to almost a complete breakdown. Titled Netanyahu at War, the documentary started with a brief biography of Netanyahu and observed that other Israeli leaders had issues with American presidents. But much of the show was spent on Obama vs. Netanyahu. The program pointed out that Obama had friendly rela- tionships with powerful Jewish community leaders in Chicago, but that did not translate to Washington after his election to president. Given that Obama is in his last year in office, it is important to take an account of what happened, why and what it por- tends for the future. Obama, the liberal, and Netanyahu, the conservative, were not only political opposites but clashed in their person- alities as well, the president being an optimist,and Netanyahu, given his his- tory and that of Israel, a pessimist. The two met in the summer of 2008 before the presidential election that year in which Obama got almost 80 percent of the Jewish vote. Netanyahu's aides stated that he was concerned about Obama, constantly asking, in effect, "Who is this man?" Netanyahu found out quickly. The problems started almost immediately when Obama's first phone calls as presi- dent were to Arab countries, and he approved his first major interview for an Arab TV network. When their first meeting was sched- uled at the White House, Rahm Emanuel, the president's Jewish chief of staff, warned the president against being trapped by Netanyahu. The president called for a freeze of settlements, not only privately, but also at a press confer- ence following their meeting. Netanyahu was incensed. The narrator tells us the meeting could not have been worse. The Israelis concluded that Obama's soul was too cold to be connected with Israel. That was followed by a major address — the Cairo speech — delivered in Egypt. He promised a new, more friendly and inclusive U.S. policy toward the Arab and Muslim communities and, again, while on Arab soil, called for a freeze of settle- ments in Israel. It was quite a start. If that was not enough, the president boarded Air Force One and, although he was in the neighborhood, did not visit Israel, only a 45-minute flight from Egypt. Some of Obama's staff admitted, on the program, that was a mistake. While Obama enjoyed the sup- port of the Jewish electorate in the U.S., his approval rating in Israel stood at 6 percent despite the fact that he maintained, according to his strategist, David Axelrod, that he was as close to being a Jew as any president who has sat in the Oval Office. When Egypt exploded, Obama called for its president, Hosni Mubarak, to resign. That made Israel suspicious because Egypt was a U.S. ally. Could Obama be trusted? Then the president said that negotia- tions with the Palestinians should be based on 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps. The film reported that Israel felt "ambushed." Angry, frus- trated and outraged, Netanyahu returned to the White House; and when he and Obama met with the press, Netanyahu lectured the president on Israel history and the exis- tential risks it faced. It was Obama's turn to be furious. The peace process was as good as dead. Then, when Obama was up for reelection in 2012, Netanyahu, hardly hiding his political preference, support- ed the Republican presiden- tial candidate, Mitt Romney. The White House skewered Netanyahu for "interfering" in U.S. politics and accused Netanyahu of crossing the line, forgetting conveniently that President Clinton "cam- paigned" for Shimon Peres when he lost an election to Netanyahu. Obama won, and he did so with 69 percent of the Jewish vote. Now came what was perhaps the most problem- atic issue of all — the Iran nuclear deal. Obama started negotiations without inform- ing Israel. When Netanyahu discovered the secret talks, he went apoplectic and committed the ultimate political sin: He lambasted the deal on Obama's home turf — he addressed Congress. Even crit- ics of Obama and supporters of Israel/ Netanyahu felt the prime minister had gone too far. The program covered one more issue: Israel's reported plans to strike Iran on its own. Israel wanted a green light, or at least a yellow one, from Obama, but didn't get it. There was much more in the docu- mentary, but the conclusion laments that the distrust between the two men (and the two nations) was never overcome, and that it was a sad chapter in the his- tory of the U.S. and Israel relationship. So, while the proverb says, "Never pray for a new king," given the present politi- cal reality, the upcoming presidential election should lead us, perhaps, to wel- come an exception to the rule. * A veteran West Bloomfield journalist and author of eight books, Berl Falbaum, was an adjunct journal- ism faculty member at Wayne State University for 45 years. guest column A Stormy Relationship Berl Falbaum our fingertips are directly connected to the brain. Executing sequential finger strokes in cursive letter formations activates massive regions of the brain involved in thinking, language and working memory. Keyboarding, by contrast, only involves touching a key. It does not involve connecting letters, a skill that mobilizes muscle move- ments requiring both down-stroke contrac- tions and upstroke releases. Both right and left hemispheres of the brain are engaged in connected writings. This exercises neural transmissions more completely than either repetitive typing or simple down-strokes that describe most printed letters. All told, cursive handwriting, when mas- tered, is more likely to be associated with pupil gains in fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and focus. Many other positive attributes favor cursive writers, not the least of which is that young people who have not been taught cursive can- not read documents from the past. It would be a mistake to drop cursive from our curriculums at this critical stage of our national efforts to improve competence and the "reading, writing and ciphering" toolbox of our next generation. * David Littmann is a certified graphologist and Midwest vice president of American Association of Handwriting Analysts. He's the retired chief economist for Comerica Bank and lives in Rose Township. continued from page 5 commentary