As president, you can’t just interact with people informally

On his last visit, Obama says, as a Senator, he got to hang out at least a little. He can’t do that anymore. He can’t meet people informally.

He says it would be great to wander through Tel Aviv in disguise and go to a university and have some conversations with students in informal settings… but that’s not possible. That really “chafes,” he says. “You can’t just slip out and interact with people without having a bunch of guys with machine-guns” hanging out with you.

Ventures Levy: There must be some compensations?

Obama: Well, there’s “a nice plane.”

And that about wraps it up. Thanks for the interview, says Levy. Looking forward to seeing you in Israel, says the president.

Quick summary: An interesting timeline on Iran, and various familiar-toned comments on the Palestinians. Some well-chosen phrases to describe the relationship with Netanyahu. And a determined stress, absent from his address in Cairo on the Middle East trip early in Obama’s first presidency, on the Jewish right to the Jewish homeland.

Thanks for reading. See you back here with Obama next week.