How’s that approval rating these days, Mr. Obama? Well to use Politician Speak, one might answer this question with,” What that question depends on entirely what you mean by an ‘approval rating.'” Although the ratings haven’t changed much since the recent State of the Union address- which is usually thought to be the main point of those things- the president has enjoyed an steady approval rate no lower than 40 since September 2013. Now currently sitting at a comfortable 48 percent/50 percent this week, it looks as if the country is relatively pleased with the president.

This is in America, however. Time has recently told us that there is a totally different perspective of Obama in Israel. A new poll has revealed that 70% of Jewish Israelis do not trust having Obama with their country’s relations. Last year in March, Obama left the country with glowing reviews of promises to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and most of the country believed in him. Since then, however, Obama has participated in agreements with Iran that have been met with general Israelis disapproval. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministered protested the initial pact, and accused Obama of being naive.

Further negotiations have lead to more strong sentiment from both Israel as well as retaliating stern reprimands from the State Department of Defense. Since the Secretary of State, John Kerry, has the most active role in these slow-moving negotiations, he has received a lot of the Israeli blows– Israeli Defense Minister was admonished to publicly apologize for calling Kerry “obsessive and messianic.”

It’s safe to say until negotiations are settled and everyone is satisfied with the agreements (when does that ever happen?) Obama along with his administration will be seen as The Bad Guys in Israel. Here’s to an effective and expedient resolution between the volatile countries.

Image via NDN