At the beginning of October, I wrote an article detailing the ways in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was attempting to swing the American presidential election toward Mitt Romney—publicly criticizing America’s policy with regard to Iran, making public appearances with the Republican presidential hopeful, allowing his soon-to-be campaign manager to design and release anti-Obama attack ads in Florida and so on—and advocated a castigating role on the part of Obama when he inevitably won reelection in November. Obama retained the presidency in an electoral landslide and ever since has been making Netanyahu squirm.

Coincidentally, the Israeli elections were held just two months after their American counterparts, and the president was only too eager to imitate the prime minister’s actions of two months prior. Just more than a week before the elections, and immediately following the prime minister’s announcement that Israel intended to retaliate against the Palestinians’ successful United Nations bid by constructing more settlements in the West Bank and withholding approximately $100 million in tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority (PA), American columnist Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that Obama said that “Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.” He went on to say that the president views Netanyahu, on the subject of Palestine, as “a political coward, an essentially unchallenged leader who nevertheless is unwilling to lead or spend political capital to advance the cause of compromise.” Tellingly, the White House had no comment.

The article received little notice in the United States, but in Israel, where Goldberg is believed to have a close enough relationship with the president to validate such inflammatory claims, it was the subject of intense scrutiny. Tzipi Livni, former Kadima party chairwoman and leader of the Hatnuah party, said that “the intentional rift that Netanyahu is creating with the United States, regardless of the cause, harms the security of the State and constitutes a lack of responsibility.” Even Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, declared that “we must not lose the support of the United States. What gives Israel bargaining power in the international arena is the support of the United States…Without U.S. support, it would be very difficult for us.” Meanwhile, members of the Netanyahu camp, mirroring American lawmakers of months prior, said that the United States had no business interfering in Israeli elections. And when Israelis went to the polls, Netanyahu’s party plummeted 11 seats in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), from 42 to 31.

Obama’s tactful vengeance did not end with subtly manipulating Israel’s elections. In early January, he signaled his displeasure by nominating Chuck Hagel, former Republican senator from Nebraska, for the position of secretary of defense in early January. Hagel, who has commented on the influence of “the Jewish lobby” in Washington, has also expressed disapproval of sanctions against Iran and advocated negotiations with both Iran and Hamas, the latter of which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization. Hagel’s nomination proceedings have been the subject of endless discussion in the Israeli press, and his nomination has been slammed by pro-Israel groups and senators, with Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., describing it as an “in-your-face nomination.”

Obama’s post-election actions, or lack thereof, have stated in no uncertain terms that Israeli interference in American elections is not to be tolerated. America is Israel’s greatest benefactor and ally—funding, for example, the majority of Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense system that is responsible for destroying rockets fired from Gaza—and it is important that the Israeli government realize both that for the foreseeable future, most American politicians will support Israel unconditionally, and that Israel interjecting itself into the election of those politicians is unacceptable. Obama is to be applauded for his strong approach to the issue, and given Netanyahu’s sudden decision to turn over the withheld funds to the PA, one can only hope that the prime minister is taking Obama’s message to heart.