by Isi Leibler
In an unprecedented
breach of diplomatic etiquette, U.S. President Barack Obama once again
sandbagged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a carefully
orchestrated interview with Jeff Goldberg, a columnist for Bloomberg
View, released a few hours before the prime minister's arrival in the
U.S., Obama reverted to his May 2011 role as an Israel basher and
engaged in personal savaging and humiliation of Netanyahu.
This was despite Netanyahu's intimation that Israel intended to adopt the Kerry framework, albeit with reservations.
Obama accused Netanyahu
of leading his country towards disaster, condemned the "more aggressive
settlement construction" and rhetorically asked, "Do you resign
yourself to what amounts to a permanent occupation of the West Bank?" He
effusively praised Mahmoud Abbas -- who had rejected Olmert's offer for
97 percent of territories over the Green Line and refused to even
conduct negotiations unless Israel released mass murderers whom he
currently fetes as heroes. Obama made no reference to Palestinian
intransigence and total unwillingness to compromise.
Obama's most ominous
remark was a veiled threat that unless Israel made further concessions,
the U.S. would be limited in its ability to protect Israel from
"international fallout" at the United Nations and other international
bodies.
Some allege that Obama
was playing "a good cop bad cop routine" with Secretary of State John
Kerry who despite his earlier role conveying similar intimidating
threats against Israel, was now reverting to a pro-Israel posture. The
more likely explanation is that in the absence of another election,
Obama no longer feels obliged to be nice to Israel and is unconstrained
in promoting his biased outlook.
To Netanyahu's credit,
he retained his cool and avoided directly confronting Obama's offensive
remarks. He said that "Israel has been doing its part, and I regret to
say that the Palestinians haven't." He added, "The tango in the Middle
East needs at least three. For years, there has been two -- Israel and
the U.S. Now it needs to be seen if the Palestinians are also present."
Reiterating his desire to achieve a peace settlement, he nevertheless
emphasized that he would resist any pressures that could compromise
Israel's security needs.
In the midst of this,
the Ukraine crisis exploded and Obama's impotent response again
highlighted the dramatic retreat of the U.S. from the world stage.
Obama's incompetence
and failed diplomacy led to the debacle in Syria which, combined with
his misguided support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, paved the path
for Russia to resume its role as a central player in the Middle East.
Obama's courting and appeasement of extremist adversaries like Iran and
his alienation of friends and hollow threats have convinced traditional
allies that the United States has become a paper tiger and can no longer
be relied upon. Many regard Obama as even more ineffective than
President Jimmy Carter.
However, when faced
with another insoluble maelstrom in the Ukraine and humiliation by Putin
and requiring congressional support, Obama must have realized that it
would be somewhat bizarre to launch a new confrontation with a
democratic ally.
At the joint press
meeting with Netanyahu, Obama gushed that "we do not have a closer
friend or ally than Israel and a bond between our two countries and our
two peoples is unbreakable." In a 360 degree reversal, he commended
Netanyahu's efforts and praised him for having "conducted these
negotiations with the level of seriousness and commitments that reflects
his leadership."
Netanyahu responded
indirectly to Obama's earlier outburst stressing that "the best way to
guarantee peace is to be strong and that's what the people of Israel
expect me to do -- to stand strong against criticism, against pressure,
stand strong to secure the future of the one and only Jewish state." He
emphasized that "what we want is peace -- not a piece of paper ... a
real peace ... based on mutual recognition ... a peace that we can
defend." He urged Obama to cooperate with Israel to prevent Iran from
producing nuclear weapons. He concluded with formal praise of Obama and
especially Kerry for their tireless efforts to promote peace.
After the meeting,
according to news agency AJP, a senior administration official described
the talks as "not as contentious as on previous encounters" and said
that the president told Netanyahu that he would "push Palestinians" to
match any Israeli concessions.
And so we witnessed an
extraordinary reversal. At the subsequent American Israel Public Affairs
Committee conference, Kerry was effusive in his praise of Israel and
Netanyahu. He called on Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish
state and stressed that Israel could not compromise its security.
In his AIPAC address,
Netanyahu made scant reference to the president. He restated the danger
of a nuclear Iran, reiterated the need for the Palestinians to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state and refused to compromise on security issues.
The bulk of his speech was devoted to passionately conveying his desire
to reach a settlement with the Palestinians, stressing the great
economic, political and social benefits that peace would bring to Israel
and the region. The speech reflected the centrist position that he had
adopted and thrust the onus on the Palestinians. It was an extraordinary
display of good diplomacy, for which Netanyahu deserves full credit.
Yet, we should be under
no illusions. Despite the ultimate ritual exchange of diplomatic
pleasantries, the negative chemistry and ideological differences between
Obama and Netanyahu seem unbridgeable.
Obama's calculated
savage outburst against Netanyahu prior to his arrival stands in stark
contrast to the soft and engaging language he consistently employs
toward leaders of rogue states like Iran. Despite the chaos and
bloodshed engulfing the Middle East and other parts of the world, Obama
remains obsessed with beating up Israel. His latest outburst reinforced
the concerns of most of the Israeli public that he lacks any real
understanding of the situation and confirmed their estimate of him as
the most hostile U.S. president Israel had ever encountered.
Israel will go through
the ritual of approving the Kerry framework agreement with major
reservations. If the Palestinians do likewise, negotiations will
continue, although nobody will be holding their breath in expectation of
a positive outcome in the short term. The best achievement would be an
agreement to concentrate on interim solutions until such time as the
Palestinian people and their leaders are genuinely willing to engage in
peaceful coexistence.
But for the next three
years while Obama is in office, there must be a concerted effort to
retain American public and congressional support in order to deter the
current administration from implementing Obama's threat to stop
protecting Israel at the United Nations and other anti-Israeli dominated
international forums.
In addition, we must
not become complacent about the special military assistance and
cooperation we receive which was even strengthened by the Obama
administration and remains crucial for the Israel Defense Forces to
retain a qualitative advantage against its adversaries.
To this end Israel must
seek to minimize public disputations with the administration and
strengthen our standing among the American public. AIPAC must endeavor
to retain the support of a bipartisan Congress. We must also continue to
demonstrate our willingness to reach a reasonable accommodation with
the Palestinians if their leaders come to their senses -- a highly
unlikely eventuality.
As we witness the
consistent U.S. abandonment of its major allies culminating with the
ongoing Ukraine crisis, it is now evident that under Obama, it is
unlikely that the U.S. will resort to military power to defend its
friends. In this climate, most Israelis would endorse Netanyahu's
determination not to compromise on security or be willing to subcontract
areas controlled by the IDF to any third parties, including NATO.
Isi Leibler's website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7645
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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