The Brown Visit / Opening for The Beatles

"Poor Gordon Brown," a senior official in the Foreign Ministry said yesterday, "he just happened to visit Israel the same week U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama is expected to arrive and isn't receiving much attention." Indeed, visiting Israel on the same week that Obama is expected to arrive is like being the opening act for the Beatles.

There were few signs on the streets of Jerusalem yesterday that the prime minister of one of Israel's most important allies and the leader of one of the most important countries in the world was in town. For some reason, Union Jack flags were nowhere to be seen in the capital.

Brown's arrival is also in the shadow of the recent visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarah Brown may be a founding partner in a public relations firm and a supporter of charities, but she's no Carla Bruni.

But that isn't the only reason for the lack of coverage of Brown's visit. Former U.K. prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair were considered great statesmen but while Brown may hold the same title, he lacks their political clout.

A member of Brown's entourage says his weakness on the international stage stems from troubles at home. Last month Brown celebrated his first year in office after taking over from Blair.

For a decade, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, presiding over a period of prosperity for Britain. But when his time finally came to take charge, the New Labor magic disappeared and widely became known as an irascible but tired figure.

During his first few months in office, when he was still riding high but changed his mind over holding new elections to approve his leadership, his popularity in polls took a nose dive and has not recovered since. In recent months, the gap between Labor and the Conservatives in the polls has been greatly diminished. Simon McDonald, one of Brown's senior aides, planned his boss' visit months ahead to portray him as the same kind of a statesman as his predecessors. But again, the timing was bad. Brown went to Iraq on a short visit before he came to Israel, and by the time he arrived in Jerusalem most of the press corps were too tired to report the visit and preferred hanging out in the lobby of the King David Hotel.