I received this in an email recently and I think it tells a very comprehensive story in a very straightforward manner.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Obama and the Jews
I hoped it wouldn't be this way but all my worst fears are coming true. President Barak Obama and his very impressive motley crew are simply not good for Israel.
While it is easy to see how Obama became the 44th president of the US -- the first black president; being part of a moment in American political history; a fresh start after George W. There are countless reasons.
But I first got suspicious when he appointed Rahm Emanuelle as his Chief of Staff. Nothing can be worse for the Jews and for Israel than a power hungry Jew with serious political power in another country. Emanuelle has no divided loyalties and no inner conflict about his heritage. He is an American first and a Jew second, at best. My greater fear is that he is a Jew-hater and Jewish Jew-haters are the absolute worst.
A recent article by Isi Leibler in Israpundit stated that "the outcome of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s forthcoming meeting with President Barack Obama will indicate the probable direction of the relationship with our most crucial ally and arms supplier."
On one hand, the optimists argued, Obama has bigger fish to fry that Israel. An economic crisis. North Korea. Afganistan. And those same optimists say that the US is strongly pro-Israel, so going against Israel would case domestic friction.
Come on people. Obama has four years in power. A little domestic friction now will long be forgotten when its time to vote for a second term. Plus, Obama is safe as can be. The black vote alone will ensure a second term in office.
Plus the fact is that most American Jews are indifferent to the situation in Israel. Young, ivy-leaguers for example show every sign of being very pro-Palestinian and these are the American decision-makers and influencers of tomorrow.
And the facts on the ground are very disconcerting. His most left-wing supporters and the European Union are pressuring him to be tougher on Israel. Many of his key aides see Israel as the root to all problems in the region. And the new government is determined to build up its relationships with Islamic nations.
Our prayers are that Netanyahu will succeed in convincing Obama of the existential threat a nuclear Iran poses for the Jewish state. He will surely reiterate his willingness to renew negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of reciprocity and will probably assure the Americans that undertakings to dismantle unauthorized outposts will be honored. But he will also resist efforts to deny “natural growth” within existing settlement blocs that will not be relinquished. Without necessarily explicitly saying so, he will endorse the “two-state solution” subject to the caveats that Israel’s security interests are not compromised, that terrorism is outlawed and that the Palestinians display a genuine willingness to coexist peacefully with a neighboring Jewish state.
The truth is that we are still far from reaching any sort of peace agreement with our Palestinian neighbors. According to the Liebler article, "a greater proportion of Israelis favor a genuine two-state solution than the Palestinians for whom the destruction of Jewish sovereignty enjoys a far greater priority than creating a state of their own."
Once again we find ourselves in the midst of a world that truly believes that all the world's problems with Islan will disappear is they sacrifice Israel. And most unfortunate, Obama and his team are among the most ardent believers.
While it is easy to see how Obama became the 44th president of the US -- the first black president; being part of a moment in American political history; a fresh start after George W. There are countless reasons.
But I first got suspicious when he appointed Rahm Emanuelle as his Chief of Staff. Nothing can be worse for the Jews and for Israel than a power hungry Jew with serious political power in another country. Emanuelle has no divided loyalties and no inner conflict about his heritage. He is an American first and a Jew second, at best. My greater fear is that he is a Jew-hater and Jewish Jew-haters are the absolute worst.
A recent article by Isi Leibler in Israpundit stated that "the outcome of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s forthcoming meeting with President Barack Obama will indicate the probable direction of the relationship with our most crucial ally and arms supplier."
On one hand, the optimists argued, Obama has bigger fish to fry that Israel. An economic crisis. North Korea. Afganistan. And those same optimists say that the US is strongly pro-Israel, so going against Israel would case domestic friction.
Come on people. Obama has four years in power. A little domestic friction now will long be forgotten when its time to vote for a second term. Plus, Obama is safe as can be. The black vote alone will ensure a second term in office.
Plus the fact is that most American Jews are indifferent to the situation in Israel. Young, ivy-leaguers for example show every sign of being very pro-Palestinian and these are the American decision-makers and influencers of tomorrow.
And the facts on the ground are very disconcerting. His most left-wing supporters and the European Union are pressuring him to be tougher on Israel. Many of his key aides see Israel as the root to all problems in the region. And the new government is determined to build up its relationships with Islamic nations.
Our prayers are that Netanyahu will succeed in convincing Obama of the existential threat a nuclear Iran poses for the Jewish state. He will surely reiterate his willingness to renew negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of reciprocity and will probably assure the Americans that undertakings to dismantle unauthorized outposts will be honored. But he will also resist efforts to deny “natural growth” within existing settlement blocs that will not be relinquished. Without necessarily explicitly saying so, he will endorse the “two-state solution” subject to the caveats that Israel’s security interests are not compromised, that terrorism is outlawed and that the Palestinians display a genuine willingness to coexist peacefully with a neighboring Jewish state.
The truth is that we are still far from reaching any sort of peace agreement with our Palestinian neighbors. According to the Liebler article, "a greater proportion of Israelis favor a genuine two-state solution than the Palestinians for whom the destruction of Jewish sovereignty enjoys a far greater priority than creating a state of their own."
Once again we find ourselves in the midst of a world that truly believes that all the world's problems with Islan will disappear is they sacrifice Israel. And most unfortunate, Obama and his team are among the most ardent believers.
The vicious circle of money and violence
Last fall, The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel called on Prime Minister Olmert to prevent the transfer of armored personnel carriers (APCs) to the Palestinian Authority. Despite their objections, Olmert completed the transfer.
Today, many agree that it is just a matter of time before those weapons, which the PA received with the consent of the Israeli government, to "fight terrorism" fall into the hands of Hamas. The fate of the PA is no longer certain nor is the subsequent reaction of its "loyal" forces when the next round of hostilities begins.
Fifty Palestinian APCs could reasonably cause great harm to IDF bases and soldiers, Jewish civilians, children on school buses, and the old jeeps used by army patrols in Judea and Samaria. A single APC breaking through a checkpoint or the security fence would inflict unspeakable harm.
While the PA, headed by Mohammed Abbas, continues to pay the salaries of the members of the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas holds a parliamentary majority. The PA also pays the salaries of the members of the Hamas government, such as Ismail Haniya and Mahmud Az-Zahar, and to thousands of security personnel in Gaza, who are technically employed by the PA, but are controlled by Hamas.
Hamas has recently stated once again that it will never acknowledge the State of Israel. In the meantime Israel continues to transfer funds to the government of the Gaza Strip. The money is supposed to be used to build infrastructure, but it is an open secret that that money is going directly into the pockets of influential bureaucrats, who in turn use some of it to pay for rockets and other weapons which will be used against Israeli civilians.
Today, many agree that it is just a matter of time before those weapons, which the PA received with the consent of the Israeli government, to "fight terrorism" fall into the hands of Hamas. The fate of the PA is no longer certain nor is the subsequent reaction of its "loyal" forces when the next round of hostilities begins.
Fifty Palestinian APCs could reasonably cause great harm to IDF bases and soldiers, Jewish civilians, children on school buses, and the old jeeps used by army patrols in Judea and Samaria. A single APC breaking through a checkpoint or the security fence would inflict unspeakable harm.
While the PA, headed by Mohammed Abbas, continues to pay the salaries of the members of the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas holds a parliamentary majority. The PA also pays the salaries of the members of the Hamas government, such as Ismail Haniya and Mahmud Az-Zahar, and to thousands of security personnel in Gaza, who are technically employed by the PA, but are controlled by Hamas.
Hamas has recently stated once again that it will never acknowledge the State of Israel. In the meantime Israel continues to transfer funds to the government of the Gaza Strip. The money is supposed to be used to build infrastructure, but it is an open secret that that money is going directly into the pockets of influential bureaucrats, who in turn use some of it to pay for rockets and other weapons which will be used against Israeli civilians.
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