Obama dispenses with Israel

Before Obama was elected in 2008 some Jewish American friends assured me that Obama would be 'good for Israel'. Of course, Obama could not possibly have known - or aproved of - Jew haters such as his 'pastor' and close friend Reverend Wright whose anti-semitic sermons he listened to for 20 years and who conducted his marriage to Michelle. Nor could he have been aware of the views of - or approved of - radical Palestinians such as Rashid Khalidi who support the destruction of Israel,  even though he was such a close friend that, when he attended a party for Khalidi in 2003 it is reported that Obama said “Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine” plus there’s been “genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis.” Obviously Obama just got carried away with the spirit of the celebration.

When Obama was reelected in 2012 and put together a foreign policy team made up entirely of politicians with a record of anti-Israel rhetoric (Kerry, Hagel, Rice, Powers) that was also just purely coincidental and in no way did it suggest that he was now about to 'throw Israel under the bus'. His love of Israel was demonstrated by his insistence that Israel release 1000 convicted Palestinian terrorists (including child murderers) in return for a lecture by John Kerry on why every Israeli settlement beyond the 1967 borders is 'illegal'.  Obviously he has no plan to weaken and marginalise Israel despite his decision last week to offer a 'deal' to drop sanctions against Iran while still allowing them to pursue a nuclear weapon, and then by making clear he was going to punish Israel for not submitting to every Palestinian demand in the current 'peace talks'. OK, so Kerry threatened Israel with a third intifada if Israel does not surrender all its settlements, while all trade links with Europe would be severed. But, hey, since Obama is insisting on dropping all sanctions against Iran it surely makes sense for him to manoeuvre for a sanctions campaign against Israel? Obviously this is all in Israel's best interests. And just in case there was any doubt about where Obama stands he has just provided yet another massive cash injection to the Palestinians, which is obviously punishing them for their latest round of terrorism and incitement and is in no way encouraging them to continue such behaviour.

Thankfully, all those American Jews still believe that Obama is a 'friend of Israel'.

p.s. Caroline Gluck sums up Obama's disastrous impact not just on Israel but on the standing of the USA:

America’s appalling betrayal of Jerusalem under Obama ... is the straw that has broken the back of American strategic credibility from Taipei to Santiago.

And a highly relevant and punchy article here by by Allan West