WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will have his hands full in his second term.
He's not only weighed down by an American government snarled in partisan gridlock. He also faces an unproductive relationship with the leader of Israel.
And the U.S.-Israeli relationship under Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is only growing more complex.
Even so, the United States routinely backs Israel when much of the world is deeply critical of the Jewish state.
Netanyahu's hardline stance on making peace with the Palestinians and on Iran's nuclear program cause friction with Obama, who would like to see an Israel-Palestinian peace accord. Obama has continued to insist there is time for diplomacy, while saying he would not countenance a nuclear-armed Iran.
