With his shoes up on the Oval Office desk, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister had a constructive, 20-minute conversation, the White House reports.
The President reiterated the principal elements of his Cairo speech, including his commitment to Israel’s security.
He indicated that he looked forward to hearing the Prime Minister’s upcoming speech outlining his views on peace and security. The President also noted that Senator Mitchell would be in Israel again tomorrow as he starts his fourth trip to the region as the Special Envoy for Middle East peace.
(Note: Actual photo taken during phone conversation)
(YWN Desk / Lipas)
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23 Responses
I said it before, and I will say it again. The man does not have the same deference, reverence and sense of decorum his predecessor had for the Oval Office. It was well known that GWB always wore a jacket while in the OO.
[As an aside, the fact that he had his feet up on the desk also gives us a glimpse into how President Obama views PM Netanyahu. We know that (l’havdil) many people, when speaking to gedolim, even by telephone, would put on their hat and jacket, and remain standing, as if they were actually in front of the gadol. Contrast that deference with the President’s cavalier attitude towards the PM on the other end.]
PS – what’s up with the Pres. continually pinching his thumb and index fingers together? Does he have a “shmek tabak” there?
Eved ki Yimloch!
i am sure mahara”d netanyahu is furious. he should break off all ties with the US and refuse to take $3 billion annually until obama shows the yiddeshe state some respect by wearing a hat, jacket, shtreimel and bekishe and grows a long beard befitting the status of office!!
honestly who cares and why does it matter?
1,
I think we would all agree with you that the messiah – and today I heard many outlets referring to him as a god! – does not have the same respect for the office that just about any of his predecessors had.
I dont think his feet up had anything to do with Natanyahu. It is just his great need to show he is “kewl.” The only other reason I came up with was he thought the desk was a fire hydrant?!?!?!?
As for his continually pinching his thumb and index fingers together, that is usually done by someone who thinks he has something important to say and he cannot get it across either because it makes no sense or the other person isnt listening.
I am NO fan of Obama. But that photo is hardly authoritative that it was either 1) the Oval Office or 2) the Resolute Desk.
It’s hardly as damning as this: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/kskiska/BushFeetDesk.jpg
Was it rockport ?
Mark – Geshmackt! (did I spell it right?)
1st of all – we are dealing with a president with an over-inflated ego! 2nd, he knew a picture was being taken of him during this conversation, and he probably wanted to show the world a pose that would get back to Bibi, and clearly belittling Israel’s PM. This is the type of body language he chose to say it. Remember, nothing is released to the media without prior approval when it is done in such close quarters.
An enormous amount of psychological brainwashing went into his campaign and he and his team were conniving and manipulative enough to fool the American ppl! He and his team are continuing this brainwashing game to make him look like a god. He will have this affect on ppl who are slaves to the media – it’s just a matter of time, because the media will not be so quick to disgrace their democratic president – because it will prove they were wrong during his campaign and no, no, no, no we can’t have them admitting they were GUILTY!
Maybe President Obama put his shoes on the table, ….. well he was afraid, in Iraq a journalist through a shoe at President Bush. Yes he missed… but Obama, after his speech in Cairo, he wasn’t going to take any chances!! On the table… he can monitor the shoe situation!! agree???
soon we’ll hear that he was found walking on his head. – once the feet go high up in the air, the head inevitably makes a reverse…
As ex US military, I find this Bozo’s action appalling! He has and continues to not follow proper US Pres protocol. First, he bows to the king. Then he shows this type of disrespect to the Israeli PM.
The reason he is pinching his thumb and forefinger
is because he was picking his nose before dialing up Bibi. It makes him think better.
PRIKAAS OL LGAMRI
#1, please. George Bush and his henchmen used out Oval Office to for his personal vendettas and get-rich-quick schemes, leaving America depleted beyond recognition. Obama has problems, yet has not yet dismantled Bush or Nixon from the bottom of the presidential rung; he may, though. But as of now, who cares if he has his feet up on his desk? The picture is meant to be inflamatory.
Netanyahu should have put his feet up on the desk too. The desk is big enough for both of their feet. That way it would have been real haymish. Look, it could have been worse. Obama could have taken his shoes off and then put his feet on the desk. Maybe that’s what he does when the Arabs meet with him.
I’m sure he was just doing it as an endorsement for a certain shoe company. All the sports stars do it, so why should he lose out on a source of side income? Goodness knows there’s a recession!
Too bad you can’t make out the name stamp in the fuzzy photo.
Who is GWB? George Washington Bridge?
He keeps his shoes handy because he is lately in the middle east and is scared someone might throw his shoes at him, So he shows he got shoes too.
Perhaps the Pres was actually continuing with his support of the Arab/Muslim world by showing his antipathy toward the PM. Remember, pointing the souls of your shoes at a person is an insult in the ME.
Obama’s apparant informality just reflects his utter contempt for most of America (which his wife actually put into so many words) and especially for Israel and the Jewish people. But let’s look at the legacy of overall contempt and improper behavior that was left to BHO by his predicessors.
Bill Clinton had regulat trysts under his oval office desk with an intern (young enough to be his daughter), while conducting affairs (no pun) of state over the phone. His wife’s reaction was to through white house mfurniture around the room.
Jimmy Carterr, the man who “lusted in his heart”, had a brother who would relieve himself in bushes even while knowing that reporters were following him.
JFK used the white house for love trysts with Marylin Monroe (a woman he shared with his kid brother the Att. Gen. And let’s not forget about the East German Spy he was bedding.
The afformentioned presidents shared 3 things. Their behavior was contemptable. They were Democrats. They were voted in by liberal Jews.
By the way #12. What aspect of Obama impresses YOU most: his party or his color? (Since he seems to have no other qualifications).
By the way, the finger rolling may have to do with his smoking habit.
From Moshe Feiglin of the Likud faction, Manhigut Yehudit:
“And we were in our eyes as grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” (From this week’s Torah portion, Shlach Lecha, Numbers 13:33)
If you do not know that G-d is running the world, the only way to evaluate reality is through human eyes. That is called being “realistic” and “pragmatic.” The spies in this week’s Torah portion were not lying. The information that they reported was completely accurate. The only problem was that they observed reality without taking faith in G-d into account.
When Israel’s leader views reality without the key factor of faith in G-d, it makes him and his country look awfully small in the eyes of the other nations. And then, the president of the United States, who grovels before every small dictator and terrorist, sees him and his country as nothing more than – grasshoppers.
And then he shows you the soles of his shoes.
# 12.
The Fact that he’s a Muslim and a supporter of terrorism, especially against Israel.