AP Photo

The meeting this week between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took place in a U.S. political environment that is clearly different than those of prior meetings between the two nations' heads of state. It gives Obama an opportunity to act in ways that were not politically possible for his two Democratic predecessors, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Obama's Democratic Party base has changed demographically and in how it views the U.S. relationship with Israel and the Mideast peace process. Democratic voters now have very contrasting views on these matters with those of Republicans, and this gives him a potential mandate to change course in U.S. policy.

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