by Isi Leibler
 |
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s response to the intensifying global pressures on Israel is
to firmly reject any further territorial withdrawals that would put
Israel’s security at risk, stating that “Israel will not lose hope for
peace, but neither will it cling to false hope.”
He was also forthright about his
intention to continue residential construction in Jerusalem, noting
that “all previous Israeli governments have done so. … It is also clear
to the Palestinians that these territories will remain within Israel’s
borders in any deal.”
The Obama administration’s
response to Israel’s confirmation that it would continue to create homes
in the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem was vindictive, brutal and in
stark contrast to its deafening silence in relation to Palestinian
incitement.
The State Department went so far
as to accuse Israel of acting “illegally,” and in a manner
“incompatible with the pursuit of peace”.
In an interview with American
journalist Jeffery Goldberg published in The Atlantic, a senior US
official referred to Prime Minister Netanyahu as “chickenshit” and
described him as “the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White
House and the State Department the most”. More than Assad, Erdogan, the
Iranian Ayatollah and Putin the ‘peace loving’ Abbas?
The curtain drop to the
administration’s malice was displayed last week in the Ya’alon
imbroglio. In a private conversation earlier this year, Defense Minister
Moshe Ya’alon disparaged Secretary of State John Kerry’s behavior in
relation to the peace process as “obsessive” and “messianic.” He made
his remarks when Kerry was repeatedly making provocative statements
against Israel and then retracting them.
As defense minister, Ya’alon is
limited in what he can say publicly and the fact that he spoke
off-record is irrelevant if he was subsequently quoted. But he
apologized and reiterated the importance of the U.S.-Israel
relationship. Nevertheless, the White House inflated his unofficial
remark totally out of proportion.
To invoke such a vendetta
against the defense minister of its most important regional ally, months
after the event, exposes the pettiness of the Obama administration.
That Ya’alon was denied access to Vice President Joe Biden and National
Security Adviser Susan Rice is problematic. But that this was leaked by
State Department sources at the end of his visit was odious. To make
matters even worse, the information was leaked to the Israeli daily
newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, whose publisher is engaged in a
long-standing crusade to demonize Netanyahu and his government and which
was the source that had initially released Ya’alon’s off-the-record
comments.
Clearly, the White House
regarded this as an opportunity to undermine not only Ya’alon’s
standing, but the entire Netanyahu government.
This is just the latest in a
series of vindictive incidents by the Obama administration because
Israel has dared to reject its diktats. Nothing illustrates President
Barack Obama’s contemptuous attitude toward Israel more than his
directive to withhold arms to Israel during wartime because Israel had
rejected Kerry’s initiative to engage Qatar as the mediator to end the
Gaza hostilities.
As virtually every foreign
policy initiative by Obama has proven to be disastrous, his
recommendations or directives must be viewed with skepticism. After all,
it is we who will have to live with the consequences.
This administration adamantly
insists that the Israel-Palestine status quo is untenable. Yet it
remains silent as Hamas boasts of efforts to restore its terror tunnel
network; barely reacts to the mayhem in Syria and Iraq where close to a
quarter million people have been butchered; ignores the Qatari funding
of Hamas and other terrorist entities including the Islamic State; fails
to castigate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for enabling
jihadists to traverse Turkey’s territory in order to fight in Syria,
while standing by and allowing the massacre of the Kurds on his border.
Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas humiliated the U.S. administration by merging with Hamas
without prior consultation. But the U.S. failed to criticize this move,
has not responded to Abbas’ policy of ethnic cleansing by making any
future Palestinian state Judenrein, nor condemned him for executing any
Palestinian found selling land to an Israeli. The U.S. did not reprimand
him for failing to denounce the act of terror in which a baby and a
young woman were killed last week in Jerusalem. Yet when an Arab
teenager was shot to death while hurling potentially lethal Molotov
cocktails at Israeli automobiles, the U.S. immediately conveyed its
condolences to the family and urged Israelis to initiate an
investigation.
Israel, the principal regional
ally of the U.S., is the only country consistently facing criticism and
has become the punching bag for the inept Obama administration, even
being denunciated for opposing a nuclear agreement with the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Only recently, Kerry again conveyed to an Arab
audience the absurd allegation that the Arab-Israel conflict fanned ISIS
and Islamic extremism. Yet the U.S. assiduously avoids condemning or
responding to rogue states guilty of criminal bloodletting, out of fear
of being further humiliated and exposed as lacking leadership.
It should be noted that there is
a broad consensus throughout Israel that the government is justified in
resisting efforts by the U.S. and others to restrict construction in
its capital Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs – which were never
challenged prior to the Obama administration.
There are those who question the
wisdom of such an announcement at this time, but if there is one issue
for which we should stand united and maintain our rights, it is
construction in Jerusalem, whose development must not be dependent on
endorsement from other countries.
The administration’s efforts to
demean Israel’s leaders have always been counterproductive. Despite the
initial media frenzy, Israelis have in such circumstances responded by
rallying in support of their government. And yet, now when the house of
Israel should display unity, some of our politicians are behaving
irresponsibly.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s
and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni public response to the recent pathetic
and mean attempt to humiliate Ya’alon implying that the fault for the
breakdown in relations rests with Israel rather than with a bumbling and
spiteful U.S. administration were highly inappropriate. They promote
chaos and bring shame upon themselves and the government they purport to
represent, conveying the mistaken impression that Israel suffers from
battered wife syndrome.
It is also regrettable that, in
the face of a vindictive U.S. administration, Opposition Leader Isaac
Herzog, failed to suspend political infighting and accused Netanyahu of
being “personally responsible for the destruction of relations with the
U.S.” He could have gained respect by stating unequivocally that there
cannot be any limits on construction in the Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem.
Yes, there is constant tension
and endless recriminations bouncing between the U.S. administration and
Israel. And according to Goldberg, there is now even the threat that the
US “may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United
Nations”.
The government has made every
effort to avoid aggravating the situation but Israel is a sovereign
democratic nation and there are occasions when it must reject
unrealistic or dangerous demands from the U.S.
Netanyahu should be commended
for his extraordinary diplomatic balancing act in withstanding the
unreasonable pressure from Obama and Kerry, avoiding outright
confrontations and in so doing, retaining the support of American public
opinion and Congress.
Israel is a small country and
its people are aware that the U.S. is crucial to their survival. But
does that oblige us to forfeit our self-respect or sovereignty and fawn
toward an administration that repeatedly displays its contempt and
humiliates us?
We should display unity by
supporting our prime minister’s policy of rejecting further territorial
concessions until the Palestinian leaders separate from Hamas, engage in
negotiations and display flexibility to enable us to achieve our
security requirements. We will not be denied the right to construct
homes in our capital or in the major settlement blocs, which will remain
within Israel. We seek the support of the United States but we must
retain our sovereignty.
Isi Leibler’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
Source: http://wordfromjerusalem.com/Obama-Seeks-Confrontation-with-Israel
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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