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sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu'€™s fiery speech on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Tuesday was not only damaging and humiliating for US President Barack Obama but also effectively destroyed the already low trust of American allies and friends, especially among Arab countries and predominantly Muslim nations, in Washington.

Netanyahu demonstrated to the world that it is Israel and not the US who is the '€œboss'€. With the full support of American legislators, he boasted that no matter how close the relations of other countries with Washington are, Israel holds a veto right on everything.

The Israeli leader, who is bidding for reelection, intentionally skipped a meeting with Obama as he only wanted to deal with American lawmakers. As reported by the Associated Press, Netanyahu vigorously attacked Obama on Iran'€™s nuclear negotiations and urged harsher sanctions against Iran. '€œThis is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it.'€

'€œSanctions alone are not sufficient,'€ Obama responded at the White House. '€œIf Iran does not have some sense that sanctions will be removed, it will not have an interest in avoiding the path that it'€™s currently on.'€

It has been global knowledge, including in Indonesia, that Israel is the US'€™ most important ally, and therefore, it is almost impossible for Washington to act as a fair and honest interlocutor or peace broker between Israel and Palestine. It has been a long-time perception in Indonesia, and in many other countries, that Israel wields power over the US and no American president will dare take any decisive foreign-policy decision that contravenes Israel'€™s geo-political interests.

But still, we are shocked to see how easy it is for the Israeli prime minster to use the podium of Congress as his stage to condemn the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the six-member team comprising the UN Security Council plus Germany. His speech received repeated applause and even standing ovations from his hosts. It was a clear message that the US will do everything to satisfy its Israeli '€œmaster'€.

How can we trust the US if the sole superpower is so easily dictated to by Israel, a tiny nation in terms of size and population but mighty in terms of economic, political and military power?

The US Congress has been very successful in disgracing Obama. But the cost of their campaign will be much higher than their short-term advantages. They will live to regret it, but it will be too late.