A year in, Israel still lacks a friend in the White House
by Ari Kaufman (1/30/10)
As I have recently written on these pages, every time Mr. Obama speaks, I pray for him to say the right things. I do this because as an American, I fear for my country and my family; but as a Jew, I worry for my religion, and especially the United States’ prime ally against terror: Israel.
Of all nations on earth, that this president has continuously chosen to ignore and criticize Israel, while offering serial apologies to their enemies, baffles me. Using sophistry to revise Jewish history, while dismissing the commitments of the prior presidential administration with regard to Israel’s very legal settlements, should generate outrage from the Jewish community.
Overall it has not, however. Jews not only supported Pres. Obama in Nov. 2008 at roughly a 75% clip, they still support his policies to a higher degree than nearly any ethno-religious group. Historically, American Jews, along with the “over-educated” are generally the last group to abandon a Democratic president, but perhaps a recent Washington Post article which confessed that the only country in the world where the U.S. has worse relations since Obama took office is Israel, will open their eyes.
Israeli citizens are another story. They sadly realize that, while Obama is president, the US is no longer a reliable ally – at least in the same sense as the past. Even though Israelis are as secular and liberal as American Jewry, they are already well aware, as according to a Jerusalem Post survey last summer, a paltry six percent believe Mr. Obama is pro-Israel. As a fervent Zionist, it disturbs me to consider that the “special relationship” of the past 60 years with this capitalist, pro-American democracy, surrounded by intolerant caliphates, could cease to exist.
Like most, I want to live a long life and thrive, and I therefore don’t want Iran or other rogue nations obtaining nuclear weapons. I also believe that Islamic totalitarianism is the greatest expression of contemporary evil. Discouragingly, this president, unlike his erstwhile promises, has coddled our enemies and allowed the possibility of catastrophe to occur—in the ignorant name of “diplomacy.”
History shows diplomacy and negotiating from a position of weakness fails. Weakness invites aggression; strength stops it. Real peace is achieved through strength, military build-up and victory. A nation’s people surrender peace, temporarily, for the prospects of freedom; they do not do the opposite. America is a country that has freed billions from tyranny; that in one Baghdad or Kabul afternoon does more for “peace” than the U.N. has in 64 years.
Our president was never taught these rudimentary lessons, as he refused the simple “peaceful” action of supporting the democratic movement in Iran this past summer. Yes, Iran: the most dangerous country in the world, a brutal theocracy led by a Holocaust-denying zealot who wishes to wipe Israel off the map.
Do I inherently think Obama wants America, Israel, or the West to be demolished by terrorists? Probably not. But he can also be unctuous and does not listen well. I believe he truly misunderstands world affairs, especially the Middle East. I agree with many who see him as a recrudescence of the ignominious Jimmy Carter, though considering many of Obama’s past mentors and current brain trust are dedicated foes of Israel, perhaps worse.
I do “support” President Obama when he gives clear speeches like he did recently at Ft Hood, when he ironically defended war while receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, or his “Buck Stops With Me” speech after the failed Christmas Day bombing. Though these words inexplicably took nearly a year, I was pleased that these were rare instances where he avoided platitudes and seemed to understand the priorities of this nation. But at some point there needs to be action behind the words, for words without action are meaningless.
A year since the hype ended, buyer’s remorse has set in quicker than imaginable. Polls indicate millions of folks feel duped into voting for Obama, realizing how simplistic it was to base their electoral choice on “hope,” “change” or skin color. Even the NY Times’ left-wing editorialist Bob Herbert is talking about the president’s “credibility gap,” and “someone whose rhetoric cannot be trusted.”
The massive failure of Health Care Reform, a calamitous year for unemployment, an improbable GOP victory in Massachusetts, and a re-energized Republican party should serve as a “blessing in disguise” for the president to reclaim his party from radicals. (Democrats, quite sadly, have evolved from willing to fight for American values abroad, into far left party that shies from promoting democracy and tolerates anti-Israel rhetoric.)
Former President Clinton learned how to side with the American people in 1993; Obama still has time for his triangulation, which unfortunately did not start with his strident and “blame Bush” State of the Union this past week. For me and “my people,” Israel support—ignored in that very defiant and disappointing speech—would be a nice start.
Ari Kaufman
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