Even as President Obama avoids meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today to save time for hanging with the ladies on The View, Canadian Prime Minister will be meeting with Netanyahu. Sun News reports that Harper will be in New York to receive an award from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation for his work on religious freedom. Not coincidentally, Harper stands for religious freedom when he meets with Netanyahu, while President Obama will be apologizing for a Christian-produced anti-Islam film at the United Nations and ignoring Netanyahu.
Obama has cancelled his originally-planned meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, likely out of concern for the public relations snafu such a meeting would cause.
Harper has long been a strong supporter of Israel. His defense minister, Peter MacKay, said in November 2011, “A threat to Israel is a threat to Canada.” No such statement has been forthcoming from the Obama administration; the Obama administration has been too busy repeatedly leaking Israeli military secrets to prevent Israel from launching a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.