Posted on 03/29/2010 10:17:32 AM PDT by Conservative Coulter Fan
Passover is an unfortunate time to be asking what has gone wrong between America and Israel. Is today's strenuous disagreement over Israel's West Bank housing policy the real problem, or is this controversy merely a symptom of deeper, more profound differences?
Partly because of the extraordinary secrecy surrounding Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent White House meeting with President Obama, much remains hidden from public view. Nonetheless, after 14 months in office, Obama has made clear he sees the U.S.-Israeli relationship very differently than any of his predecessors.
Consider, for example, Obama's September 2009 U.N. General Assembly speech, profoundly anti-Israeli, and to a body where Israel is perennially even more isolated than the United States. There, among other things, Obama called for a "Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967."
That, of course, is the Palestinian position. No wonder they are "outraged" at every subsequent Israeli construction project outside the 1967 borders. No wonder Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told an Arab League summit on Saturday he would not negotiate with Israel until all settlement activity ceases. They see Obama delivering Israel into their hands, and they will simply insist on their optimal position while they measure how well he succeeds.
More fundamentally, Obama assumes, as do many Europeans, that solving or at least making substantial progress on Arab-Israeli issues is key to many other Middle East problems. In particular, he believes there will be no progress against Iran's nuclear weapons program until there is proof that Israel's commanding position has been reduced.
For Obama, therefore, every bump in the Arab-Israeli "peace process," caused repeatedly in his estimation by Israeli intransigence, has consequences far beyond its actual dimensions.
In fact, the idea that Israel's recalcitrance, personified by pugnacious Bibi Netanyahu, is the central obstacle to peace is exactly backward, like looking through the wrong end of a telescope.
There are many unresolved Middle Eastern problems, but if Obama could only focus on one, Iran is clearly the most dangerous threat to peace in the region. Not only does Iran's rapidly progressing nuclear weapons program threaten global peace and security, but it is the world's central banker of terrorism, directed against both the West and against fellow Muslims who don't pass muster according to Iran's ruling military theocracy.
The president could far more usefully pressure Iran's dangerous and belligerent regime, than publicly humiliate a close ally like Israel. Instead, Obama has done everything but plead with Iran to come to the negotiating table, and failing that has so far pursued a weak and ultimately doomed policy of trying to significantly increase economic sanctions against Tehran.
The president's weakness on Iran mirrors a similarly halting, inconclusive policy against North Korea's nuclear threat, and his overall indecisiveness in the war on terrorism.
The misplaced emphasis on pressuring Israel rather than Iran is more than a little ironic, because it is precisely the Muslim-Arab states Obama has been so assiduously courting who want America to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. Arab governments friendly to the United States may dislike Israel in varying degrees, but they fear and distrust a nuclear-capable, terror-supporting Iran. They would welcome Israel (or the United States) destroying Iran's nuclear program, although they will never say so publicly, and will likely vigorously condemn Israel if it strikes.
Thus, Obama's signature foreign policy--pressure your friends and beseech your adversaries--will, here again, produce results precisely contrary to American national interests. We can only hope that the Netanyahu government, pursing Israel's interests, vindicates our own before Obama's hostility brings down Netanyahu's governing coalition.
John R. Bolton is a senior fellow at AEI.
Photo Credit: Randall Niles/Flickr/Creative Commons
Netanyahu’s father discusses the peace process (part I, II, & III)
*PING*
What's gone wrong? What part of OBAMA do they not understand?
A Deepening Crisis Between U.S., Israel
Think of that as a Muslim victory. Period
Didn’t Obama receive a super-majority of Jewish-American votes?
Most American Jews do not vote based on Israel any more than Irish Americans vote based on US policy towards Ireland.
I would love to see God show Obama what He thinks of Israel and those who oppose her.
That Obama is not only an enemy of Israel, but the United States as well. To put it another way,he hates any country that is not predominately Muslim.
Shame,shame on us.
Obama is a very clever thing. By pushing Israel to the side, when Israel attacks Iran as they will be forced to do, then the Obama Administration can say they had nothing to do with it, wink, wink. The MPOTUS puts Israel into the forefront and the US can say it didn’t support the attack. Israel doesn’t then need Washington’s green light. Israel does Obama’s and the World’s dirty laundry and the World looks to the US as fair and even minded towards the Middle East.
What a loser in chief he will become, this MPOTUS.
I disagree, his handler/handlers are very clever. Obama is a paid punk. He isn't even half smart or he would not be following a plan to destroy this country. Just where does he intend to live after our destruction?
Perhaps we start a letter writing campaign to the people of Israel, they should know that the Marxists in control of this nation are not representative of us, do not speak for us and do not have our consent.
We should encourage them to ignore the marxists in our fedgov. We should express our support for them in their continual war against the muzzies. We should promise them renewed help after we either dispose of the usurpers or set up a new free nation.
In fact, we should do the same for the people of Honduras as well.
Saudi Arabia might work,they can crown him Prince Armageddon , and a palace to live in,etc,etc.
You may not have to wait too long.
There is no crisis between the US and Israel. There is a crisis in the US that also threatens Israel, but real Americans are hoping that we will be permitted free and fair elections in 2012 and that we will be able to get rid of the anti-Semitic Anti-American socialist occupying our White House.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Oppose AHAVA BOYCOTT - Tell Nordstorm to Continue Selling Beauty Products from the Holy LandThe radical group CODEPINK: Women for Peace (sic) has targeted Nordstrom, and is asking people to send e-mails calling for Nordstrom to boycott Ahava products.
You can e-mail the same people at Nordstrom saying how disappointed you would be if they listened to these radical "Women for Hate".
These are the people they are e-mailing:
Linda Peffer Divisional Vice President, Social Responsibility
Linda.Peffer@Nordstrom.comTara Darrow, Director of Public Relations, Nordstrom
Tara.Darrow@Nordstrom.comKrischel Pen Nordstrom
Krischel.Pen@Nordstrom.com
Honestly, Netanyahu needs to keep playing this up. Both parties favor Israel, so as long as this story is played up, they will continue to publicly ‘rebuke’ the Obamanation.
And as long as the Obamanation is ostracized, he will not be able to act on his proclamations.
So, it actually would be harmful for Israel to tamp this down, for then with it ignored, the Obamanation *CAN* put his words into deeds.
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