Barack Obama famously declared there were no conditions for talks with the mad mullahs of Iran, despite them being responsible for the murder of many Americans over the years (Beirut barracks, Iraq, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia).

How about the latest salvo from the Obama team regarding our ally, Israel? Its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is coming to America to address a conference of leading Jewish groups. Barack Obama was supposed to address the same meeting but canceled at the last minute to fly to Fort Hood to address the grieving friends and relatives of the soldiers murdered their last week. Obama could have re-scheduled the appearance for last night.

Regardless, Netanyahu was going to be in Washington at the same time as Barack Obama. The White House let the Israelis squirm for days over whether Barack Obama would meet with Netanyahu. Apparently, the meeting is now on. But Barack Obama is now imposing conditions on the Israelis.

The mullahs get a pass; the Israelis get demands according to Charles Levinson and Jay Solomon writing in the Wall Street Journal:

The White House waited several days to confirm that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could meet with President Barack Obama Monday, and sought conditions first -- underscoring the new depths of difficulty that Middle East peace efforts have reached in the last week.

U.S. officials said the delay, which stretched until late Sunday, stemmed from last-minute discussions aimed at gaining a more robust and public commitment to the peace track from Mr. Netanyahu. One official said the U.S. wanted Mr. Netanyahu to express stronger support for negotiations on an independent Palestinian state at his speech Monday before the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington. "We're in the part of the process where you can't expect something for nothing," the official said.

It wasn't immediately clear what Mr. Netanyahu would say on the issue. But ultimately the U.S. agreed to schedule the meeting.