Israel Digs Up Obama Welcome Tree

The Times Of Israel is reporting that by order of the Agriculture Ministry, the magnolia tree brought from the US by the president and planted by Obama and Peres earlier this afternoon is being dug up. No, I am not making this stuff up folks…

Plants cannot be brought in from abroad “without undergoing a check” by the ministry, the report quotes the bureaucrats as saying. If this were April 1, we’d assume this was a wind-up. As the Netanyahu-Obama talks near their mid-evening break — there’ll be a press conference in 20 minutes or so, and then a working dinner — Ambassador Michael Oren is asked whether, for all the nice words thus far, Obama isn’t going to say, sooner or later: What about ending the occupation? Ever the diplomat, Oren ignores the wording and reiterates that Israel wants to talk to the Palestinians, with no preconditions, right away. TOI.