Netanyahu is likely to receive little sympathy on the issue of Jerusalem, as President Obama has already signalled his intent to press for some kind of international status for the ancient holy city.

Likely demonstrations at the funeral of Iran's most senior opposition cleric would reflect continuing popular outrage at the widespread fraud in the June 12 presidential election and the general disunity of the country.

On Monday, President Obama will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. With a showdown looming over Iran, their summit will not only be the most important meeting for either leader but it may also be the most consequential meeting for the entire Middle East since Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s 1993 handshake with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

“President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus”—Okay, we get it. The Republican candidates must move beyond repeating that mantra.

The War on Terror is bigger than the conflict in Iraq. Counterinsurgency theory shows that thepath to victory lies through the broader Middle East.

When the Islamic Republic collapses, a strong unified Iran will be a force for stability and a regional bulwark against the Islamism under which the Iranian people now chafe.

An important test for reform of the United Nations will be measured by whether there is a dramatic change inhow Israel, the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, is treated.

Inclusion never transformed extremists into pragmatists, as Europe's history makes clear. That history lesson should be applied to Lebanon as well.