Reports are that Obama's recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu lasted twice as long as expected. This meeting was after the Obama administration took a stand on stopping all new Israeli settlements, and Bibi basically said no.

Hillary then went to Israel and praised Bibi's decision as unprecedented (he said that he would not plan new settlements, but would still construct those that were planned). Arab public opinion roared in frustration and Obama looked spineless. Mahmoud Abbas, the unsung Palestinian president, can't take any more blows, and protests that he is stepping down. 

Now it seems that Obama is doing whatever he can do to backtrack on Clinton's statements and wrest concessions from Bibi in order to save Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, which could collapse if Abbas leaves. But Bibi's hardline stances keep his right-wing coalition together, so it will be hard to make him change position.