Maybe someone at the Obama Administration can explain what’s
\ngoing on.<\/p>\n
When it comes to tyrants who have dismantled their nation’s
\ndemocracies and thrown their political opponents in jail, like Hugo
\nChavez, President Obama hugs them with both arms. And if you’re a Middle
\nEast dictator, like King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who brutally
\noppresses women and won’t even let them drive a car, for goodness sake,
\nthe President of the United States will bow down to you (you get the
\nsame treatment if you’re the Emperor of Japan). But if you’re the
\ndemocratically elected Prime Minister of the Middle East’s only fully
\nfunctioning democracy, and America’s most reliable ally, the President
\nwill sic his Secretary of State on you if you don’t follow everything he
\ndemands. Who does President Obama think the Israeli Prime Minister is?
\nHis poodle?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is scandalous behavior, and over a non-incident.<\/p>\n
Jews should be allowed to live anywhere in Jerusalem, as should
\nArabs. And had the Israeli government announced that it was preventing
\nArabs from living in any part of the Holy City that they choose, I would
\nhave written an equally scathing column criticizing that xenophobic
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
During Obama’s Presidential campaign, I was asked to serve as a
\nnational co-chair of Rabbis for Obama. I turned it down. First of all, I
\nwas amazed that the candidate wasn’t going to be on any calls with the
\nRabbis who signed up, with the campaign saying he was too busy. Ah, so
\nyou want to just use the Rabbis and not show them basic courtesy and
\nrespect? Second and more importantly, I had a strong inkling that
\nPresident Obama would treat Israel this way. Bullying them, pushing
\nthem, pressuring them, into peace deals that compromised their security.<\/p>\n
And make no mistake about it. Splitting Jerusalem, as it had been
\nsplit up until its unification during the Six-Day War, is the single
\ngravest risk to Israel’s security. Just imagine a Palestinian capitol,
\nwith Palestinian forces only miles away from Israel’s Knesset and
\ngovernment buildings. The Palestinian Authority has very little control
\nover its own security forces and especially its people, with huge
\nnumbers supporting Hamas over the PA. Would Israel really sign a suicide
\npact to put all the organs of its government within easy striking range
\nof Palestinian rockets? Haven’t we seen this happen already with Sderot
\nand Gaza? Can anyone even imagine the consequences if Sderot became
\nJerusalem?<\/p>\n
But all this is beside the point. Israel is not one of America’s 50
\nstates. It’s a sovereign nation. For President Obama and Secretary
\nClinton to treat Israel with such disdain, and handle its elected
\nofficials as if they are naughty school children, is disgusting. I would
\nlike to see a single other example of an international leader subjected
\nto the kind of public berating that has taken place between Hilary and
\nBibi over the past few days. It’s beneath the office of the President
\nand the Secretary of State.<\/p>\n
And please don’t give me the tired arguments about how much America
\ndoes for Israel. America gives Egypt billions in aid each year. Yet,
\nObama showed Hosni Mubarak extensive courtesy when he visited Cairo,
\neven though Mubarak is a dictator who has for decades rejected America’s
\ncall for democratic reforms.<\/p>\n
And what of Iraq? We spent hundreds of billions of dollars and tens
\nof thousands of American casualties to liberate the Iraqis. Anyone hear a
\nthank you from Iraqi politicians last week as they went to their second
\nfree elections since the liberation? Yet their leaders are treated with
\nutmost respect by our government.<\/p>\n
Mr. President. Stop treating Israel contemptuously. By putting all
\nthe burden on Israel to make peace and making no demands on the Arabs to
\ndemocratize, you not only undermine America’s commitment to liberty but
\nyou scuttle your own efforts at peace. War between the Arabs and
\nIsraelis has raged for six decades because the former has always sought
\nto delegitimize and destroy the latter.<\/p>\n
I don’t see you making peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mr.
\nPresident. Why do you so insist that Israel make an accord with a
\nPalestinian Authority that cannot even control the terrorist
\norganization Hamas?\n<\/p>\n