One of the most distinguishing features of President Obama’s
foreign policy has been its visceral hostility towards the State of
Israel.
Let’s review.
The Obama Administration has excluded
Israel from counter-terrorism meetings despite its expertise in
counter-terrorism measures to assuage the Arab and Muslim
world.
In another move to assuage the Arab and Muslim world, the Obama
Administration
refuses to identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Obama has personally
called for Israel to give up land to the Palestinians based on
its pre-1967 borders.
The Obama Administration has been harsher in his criticism of
Israel building houses in Jerusalem than of Iran building a nuclear
bomb. It has consistently demanded Israel stop building homes as a
precondition to the negotiations with Palestinians. Call it a red
line. Yet when it comes to Iran, the Obama Administration
has no red lines.
Obama
criticized Israel for not making “bold gestures” concerning
peace with the Palestinians. Yet where are the bold gestures by
Palestinians to stop honoring terrorists who murder Jewish
civilians or to stop printing textbooks which incite hatred against
Jews as a precondition for negotiations?
Commenting on the expansion of so-called settlements just last
month Obama
said with his usual condescension, “Israel doesn’t know what
its own best interests are.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu sharply
responded in an interview:
No one decides for the citizens of Israel. I think that
President Obama knows that the ones determining Israel’s vital
interests are the citizens of Israel, and they will be the ones to
choose who will protect those interests in the best possible
way.
Then there’s his appointment of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of
Defense. The man who
said, “The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up
here.”
Yet when Obama makes his first state visit to the Jewish State
next month, he will be bestowed with Israel’s newly created
Presidential Medal of Distinction.
I kid you not.
Yet Israeli President Shimon Peres is doing exactly that. The
former Israeli Prime Minister
explained:
Barack Obama is a true friend of the State of Israel, and has
been since the beginning of his public life. As president of the
United States of America, he has stood with Israel in times of
crisis. During his time as president he has made a unique
contribution to the security of the State of Israel, both through
further strengthening the strategic cooperation between the
countries and through the joint development of technology to defend
against rockets and terrorism.
Peres’ statement contradicts a 2010 statement by Michael Oren,
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States. Oren
said, “Israel’s ties with the United States are in their worst
crisis since 1975… a crisis of historic proportions.” If Peres
considers Obama to be a true friend of Israel then I guess we can
expect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Mohamed Morsi of Egypt and
Syria’s Bashar Assad (if he is still in power) to receive
presidential medals from Israel. Barack Obama deserves Israel’s
Presidential Medal of Distinction about as much as he deserved the
Nobel Peace Prize. At the very minimum, Peres is diminishing the
value of Israel’s highest civilian honor. With friends like Obama
who needs enemies?
For those unfamiliar with Israeli politics it should be noted
that the position of President is a ceremonial one with no
political power. But given that Peres has been a central figure in
Israeli politics for over half a century his words still yield
authority.
Now I am sure that Peres is reciprocating Obama for bestowing
him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year. Why wouldn’t
two socialist heads of state honor one another? But I am also sure
that Peres is honoring Obama to stick it in the eye of Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Peres and Netanyahu are old
political rivals and there is as little love lost between them as
is there is between Obama and Netanyahu. When Netanyahu became
Israel’s Prime Minister for the first time in 1996 it was Peres he
defeated.
Late last year, during the Israeli election campaign, Peres
ruffled feathers first by calling for the renewal of
negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and
then a day later suggested that Israel should initiate direct talks
with Hamas. Last summer, Peres
repeatedly said that Netanyahu should not attack Iran without
consulting the United States. Translation: Netanyahu must not
attack Iran without Obama’s permission.
While Peres is a fervent admirer of Obama, the same cannot be
said for the Israeli populace at large. As it stands now, only 14
percent of Israelis
think Obama is pro-Israel. Given how little Obama has endeared
himself to the people of Israel it will be interesting to see if he
will be greeted by protests not only when Peres honors him but from
the moment he sets foot on Israeli soil.
Photo: UPI
