Bob Schwartz

There are thousands of people, from undergraduate students of foreign relations and political science to world class experts and statesmen, who know more about the complexities of Israel and the Middle East than the president. But we’ve got what we’ve got.

Most nations think that Israel is on a wrong path. Most Americans think Israel is on a wrong path. Most American Jews think Israel is on the wrong path.

On the other hand, the Israeli administration thinks it’s on the right path. Many, not all, American Republicans think Israel is on the right path. A major American lobbying group thinks Israel is on the right path, and puts it’s money where its position is.

Then there’s the president, who knows little and cares little for the complicated big picture. He generally sides with Israel, and thinks he can be known as the historic one who solved the Middle East. Quixotic hardly describes it. He is Don Quixote without a horse or an able assistant.

Netanyahu sees the president’s ignorance and uncertainty. So when the president came up with a 15-point peace plan, Israel found it unacceptable.

The official Israeli response was no, but the implicit response is: pick a side. If you, Mr President, try to lean even a little way away from unconditional support, we will unleash holy hell on the American political scene, and you will be caught up in it.

We appreciate that you and those loyal to you have been on our side. But you must have realized that once you are with us you are with us. That is precisely the standard you have set for your own  followers. If you are not with me, 100 percent, you are against me. I am saying the exact same thing. Pick a side.

There are a lot of adjectives we attach in describing people, some commonly, some not so much. The same applies to our description of the American president.

Watching his obsession with prosecuting a decent man, a former Olympian, for the made up crime of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, brought another word to mind.

Petty. It doesn’t have the harsh power of so many other descriptions of the president. It is something we might toss at a friend or loved one, when they’ve made something big out of something that didn’t deserve it.

Many don’t consider the president a friend or loved one. Another difference is that with this obsession comes the power to prosecute and potentially jail a demonstrably innocent person, so innocent that the prosecutor dropped the bogus charge.

This is where petty becomes a useful word. Petty plus power is an apt description of one aspect of the situation, though far from the only one. Petty people with power are nothing new, but in every case contradict our basic sense of fairness. The legal system for one, since that is the topic here, is built to prevent unsupported pettiness, a very human trait, from having dire effect. That is the guardrail that keeps personal obsession and vengeance from becoming vendetta or policy.

The most petty president is also the most powerful person. An unfortunate combination.