5 Al-Ahram Weekly Netanyahu and the Arab spring Abdel-Moneim Said 9 - 15 June 2011 -- Two regionally and globally crucial spectacles have been unfolding in the Arab world this year. The first is the wave of "revolutions", or "uprisings", or whatever they might be called that have variously overthrown regimes, striven to overthrow others, and made yet others so uncomfortable that not a day goes by without them announcing various reforms. The second spectacle originated in Washington, where US President Barack Obama has launched his latest initiative to kickstart a new Palestinian-Israeli peace process based on the two-state solution defined by the 1967 borders, albeit modifiable by land swaps in order to accommodate the concrete changes that have taken place over the past 44 years. What happened next will be familiar to all: Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu went to Washington, furious at Obama's announcement. In spite of the fact that both leaders addressed the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Obama's speech being conciliatory while Netanyahu remained inflexible, the bridge between the two leaders remains fragile. However, to complete the picture, there is a need to refer as well to Netanyahu's speech to the joint houses of Congress, also made during his recent visit to Washington. The standing ovation Netanyahu received there was a palpable reminder of how deeply Israel has worked its way under America's skin and that no differences between the two seem ever likely to ever spoil their intimacy. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018089