Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

Bibi Suddenly Eager To Wash Obama’s Car

The Backward is the Forward’s annual satirical Purim edition. Enjoy!

In an intriguing political development, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent a full afternoon of an important diplomatic trip to the nation’s capital cleaning and polishing President Obama’s car.

The Israeli premier denied that political considerations had anything to do with his sudden eagerness to clean the presidential automobile.

“The President and I have always been great buddies,” said a smiling Netanyahu as he vigorously soaped the hubcaps of Obama’s vintage Ford Mustang. “I just wanted to do something nice for my friend when I saw the chance.”

While Netanyahu has spent previous visits to the U.S. hectoring Obama to support Israeli policies, meeting with high-ranking Republicans, and vigorously signaling his displeasure with the President, observers have noted that Netanyahu has seemed exceptionally eager to please on this trip. The President seemed inclined to cut Netanyahu a little slack, even going so far as to give him a second chance to clean some missed spots on the First Vehicle.

Various witnesses have reported seeing Netanyahu shining Obama’s shoes, taking Bo the dog for an early morning walk, fluffing the President’s pillow and freshening the president’s beverage. Netanyahu has also been spotted laughing loudly at several of Obama’s jokes.

Netanyahu’s aides insist that the prime minister’s solicitousness has absolutely nothing to do with his weakened political position in Israel, nor with Obama’s freedom from the whims of Jewish voters and political donors.

“Bibi has always been a friendly, people-pleasing guy,” said spokesman Mark Regev, in response to questions about the changed temperament of his notoriously cagey, antisocial boss. “He’s just glad to do whatever he can to help Barack have a good time, whether it’s scrubbing his toilet or massaging his feet.”

Regev added that he had also seen Michelle Obama gabbing and trading girl talk with Sara Netanyahu, widely referred to in Israel as “Lady Macbeth.”

In other news, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney reported that Netanyahu has not been returning his phone calls.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.