Friday, October 26, 2012

Who Threw Who Under the Bus?

I have read a number of articles lately decrying that past Republicans threw Israel under the bus. Most of the points they make are true. No doubt, from Roosevelt to Bush, the Arab nations have been appeased at Israel's expense. This mostly due to the US interest in Arab oil. That said, no truly objective person can honestly say that relations between the US and Israel have never been better. In fact they've never been worse since Obama took power. What I find most offensive is his two faced platform. This multiple personality disorder continues to remain unchallenged by the general media and continues to remain untreated. While campaigning for the top job he said on many occasions that Jerusalem is Israel's capital, and it must remain so as THE undivided capital of the Jewish State. Once in office he stated by way of interview (you can find this video on the internet) that the word 'undivided' was an unfortunate term. To date, his administration can't even answer the simple question: Which is Israel's capital, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?

 We all know of his first important speech as president. The infamous 'Cairo speech'. Thats the one where he invited the then outlawed Moslem Brotherhood to listen to him glorifying Islam as a nation of peace. In that speech he insinuated that Israel exists solely because of the Holocaust. In that speech he declared plainly that the US does not support the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. He admonished the Arabs hostility towards Israel but bade moral equivalency between Israel's behavior and the Palestinians. When campaigning he visited Israel. As president, he never did. When he was in Sderot, Israel, the home to tens of thousands of rocket attacks from the Gaza strip, he said that if rockets were fired at his daughters he'd do anything to protect them. To numerous Jewish organizations he stated that the US support of Israel was sacrosanct and in no uncertain terms, the States has Israel's back. 



In short, prior to taking office no one could say that he's not a friend to Israel. After taking office- quite the opposite. No president before him had ever brought up the subject of Israel's nuclear arms and suggested that Israel sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (since if Iran can't have nuclear arms, neither should Israel). The fact that the tiny democracy of Israel has been attacked outright so many times by so many countries and yet has refrained so far from using it's supposed nuclear weapons says a lot about their code of ethics and their deep understanding of how wars can start and end. His treatment of Bibi, arguable the president of the State's closest ally made headlines when Obama let Bibi into the White house through the back door, kept him waiting while Obama had dinner with his family but didn't feed him and basically treated him like he was an enemy of the state. His words to the French leader caught on the microphone about how Bibi was a pain in the ass, hit a nasty chord. When he spoke to a pre-selected group of Jewish leaders (they only invited left leaning Obama supporters) in 2009 he said and I'm quoting so there is no denying this: 'When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arab states.' Then there was the famous 'Let's crucify Israel' for announcing an expansion of housing in East Jerusalem while the vice president was there. Bibi was dressed down by Mrs. Clinton and the hate speeches kept coming from almost every area of government on the audacity of Israel to make such an announcement while embarrassing Biden. The Obama administration jumped on this as much as they did the anti-Muslim video as the cause of the attack on the US embassy in Libya. And the argument is just as foolish. At no time during his presidency did Obama attack any foe publicly as he did Israel on this one occasion. To paint the picture clearly: While Iran is getting away with murder, world terror, and continues to build nuclear bombs - Obama was and continues to negotiate with them, but when the tiny, US ally of the US wants to build some more housing in their crowded, capital city, they get nailed to a cross in front of billions of witnesses.  

I can go on and on to list numerous other non-friendly Israeli attacks by Obama and his administration. Some are often benign and blown out of proportion or subtle pokes while others are quite serious.  The one that stands out the most so far is Obama's insistence that Israel should return to pre-1967 borders! A border that was less than 9 miles wide in the middle of the country and is absolutely indefensible today. Israel is under constant existential threat from it's neighbors. One can see that even existing peace treaties are not worth the paper they're written on. With the Moslem Brotherhood and other Islamists taking over in Egypt the Sinai peace treaty is all but dead. The Sinai peninsula contains a who's who of terrorists including the overtly anti-American group Al-Quaida. With the turmoil brought on by numerous Arab springs all over the middle east, each and every Israeli neighbor threatens to attack Israel. For an ally to suggest that Israel return to pre-1967 borders is unthinkable. There are 2 reasons Obama said this:

1. He's naive as hell and really thinks this would make the Arabs agree to make peace with Israel.
2. He's no friend to Israel.

The fact that he made this suggestion in public prior to speaking with Israeli leaders on this, points to reason # 2 above. He wanted to plant the seed to the American public and the world at large.

Not long ago, Bibi asked to meet the president regarding Iran's plans to wipe Israel off the planet. But Obama was too busy. He had important things to do, like going on the Letterman show. Is this how you treat a friend and ally? With friends like that, who needs enemies.

Back to my original point. Why am I so offended by him when it comes to Israel?  When it came to social/political values he made some important talking points to these prior to his election. For example he stated back in 1998 that he believes in wealth redistribution. His associating with Marxists and other communists are well documented. So his current policy of more government and more welfare programs and higher taxes shouldn't be a surprise. However his 2 faced behavior when it comes to Israel reminds me of Yasser Arafat who spoke of peace to an American audience and hours later spoke of destroying Israel in arabic to a Palestinian audience . Had Obama made clear to the American public how he really felt about the relationship between the US and Israel as we have seen since he's been in power, he would have lost the Jewish and pro-Israel votes but he would have gained some respect from people like me for his honesty. At least I and others would have known where he stands vis a vis Israel. His constant appeasement to Islamists and his constant apologies to American enemies are one thing but his love affair with throwing Israel under the bus, is  a very dangerous thing for Israelis first and for the free world second.

Please check out my video: Change the World


No comments: