The president’s pressuring of Israel reinforces the fact that Mr. Obama does not have a clear foreign policy agenda. His views toward Israel – as with his attitude toward the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan and the war on terror – seems, at best, haphazard and disjointed. At worst, Mr. Obama does not even remotely grasp the severity of the threat facing Israel.
Just after arriving in the White House, the president used the virulent, anti-Israel United Nations as his platform to demand Israel stop all settlement activity. Mr. Netanyahu refused, later speaking out about Jerusulem as Israel’s capital, prompting the White House to then “punish” the Israeli prime minister by cancelling a proper presidential meeting.
Now Mr. Obama is pressuring Israel to begin negotiations over a future Palestinian state by reverting back 44 years to a point in history when Israel was largely defenseless. If the president had any real understanding of what this would mean for the future of Israel, he would realize a Palestinian state right on Israel’s border would offer Iran a proxy within a stone’s throw of the Jewish state.
Still, the president’s posture toward Israel should come as no surprise to the American Jewish community. During the campaign we learned of his relationships with Rev. Wright, Rev. Pfleger, Staff Gen. Tony McPeak, and Rashid Khalidi — all of whom suggested Mr. Obama would not be a friend to Israel. Sadly, too many Americans were blinded by what they wanted to see and ignored what was right there in front of them.