A New York Times best-selling author says he has uncovered the real reason President Obama has snubbed Israel's prime minister.
Edward Klein, whose new book The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House was released earlier this year, believes Obama has been a rank amateur on foreign policy, especially considering the way he turned down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request for a meeting to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat.
"The president of the United States turned down Bibi Netanyahu's request and instead agreed to meet with Mohamad Morsi, the president of Egypt, where our embassy is under assault," Klein explains.
He has learned that Obama campaign manager, David Axelrod, nixed an Obama-Netanyahu meeting because he was concerned the prime minister would feel obligated to also meet with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, who happens to be an old friend of Netanyahu.
"He did not want to see a photograph of the president and Netanyahu having a chilling meeting, while the same newspapers would run photographs of Netanyahu meeting with Romney and warmly embraced," Klein concludes.
In a Fox News commentary, Klein writes that the Obama campaign operation is convinced that Netanyahu is grossly interfering in the American presidential election. "Netanyahu, according to their theory, wants Romney to win the election because he shares Netanyahu's hawkish views on Iran," he states. "What's more, the Israeli prime minister's constant complaints about America's approach to Iran are viewed by Axelrod & Co. as an effort to portray Obama as a weak leader."
Obama's "brushoff" of Netanyahu, says Klein, was purely political -- not diplomatic.