According to a story in the Jerusalem Post this morning, Yossi Peled, a minister of Netanyahu's government and a member of Likud, called for a multi-pronged strategy to combat Obama in a letter to cabinet members.
Among calling for direct sanctions against the US, he proposed buying off senators and congressmen with donations, forcing them to persuade Obama to back off pressuring Israel in making peace with the Palestinians and to continue along the path toward a Palestinian state.
While the proposals seem to be dead on arrival, they are indicative of the struggle that Obama will have in navigating the peace process in the coming months.
Additionally, Peled called for giving away sensitive US technology to other countries against previous agreements.
But in the interim, the minister suggests reconsidering military and civilian purchases from the US, selling sensitive equipment that the Washington opposes distributing internationally, and allowing other countries that compete with the US to get involved with the peace process and be given a foothold for their military forces and intelligence agencies.
Apart from that, boycotting Boeing and other US military contractors should be brought into the discussion.
Here the article details Peled's plans for influencing US politics toward Israeli interests:
In what may be his most controversial suggestion, Peled recommends intervening in American congressional races to weaken Obama and asking American Jewish donors not to contribute to Democratic congressional candidates. He predicted that this would result in Democratic candidates pressuring Obama to become more pro-Israel.
Peled called for the formation of a new body intended to influence American public opinion. The groups he suggests courting include Hispanic Americans and Labor unions in industries that benefit from Israeli military acquisitions.
Interestingly, these suggestions aren't coming from a Lieberman-esque wingnut, but rather from one of the more "moderate" Likud members.
A former OC Northern Command, Peled is considered part of the left flank of the Likud that includes ministers Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan. Unlike Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, he does not have a history of openly criticizing American policies and unlike Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, he does not have personal ties to the Republican Party.
Despite him being a minister in the cabinet, Netanyahu's aides say that none of his suggestions will be implemented, which is good news for Israel, the US and the peace process in general.
It's frightening to think that these suggestions are reactions to Obama's arguably still pro-Israel bias in dealing with the Palestinian humanitarian and human rights crisis. We have a lot of work to do in making sure that we support Obama's efforts to bring forth a solution and let our representatives know that we support his efforts, especially if NGOs start trying to exert pressure through contributions to effect an outcome adverse to peace.
But a source close to the prime minister reacted to it with scorn and stressed that none of Peled's suggestions would be implemented.
"The government's goal is to cooperate with the US," an official in the Prime Minister's Office said. "Jerusalem and Washington have a special relationship and we expect that relationship to continue to be strong, intimate and cooperative."