President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week with an eye on two fronts: the chaotic Middle East and the domestic political campaign, where Democrats are eager to make sure that support for Israel does not become a partisan issue in 2016. And while Obama said he and Netanyahu explored what concrete steps Israel might be willing to take to ease tensions with the Palestinians, the president did so with limited expectations, thus bringing hope in line with reality.

“If you go to diplomatic war with the Israelis for no good reason when you know you can’t achieve a breakthrough on a two-state solution, you risk giving Republicans enormous leverage in the election and put your former secretary of state in an awkward position of walking away from you,” said Aaron Miller, vice president at the Wilson Center.