Cut off the Cash and Israel Might Behave...?????
President Netanyahu is undermining US interests. The sooner President Obama makes his support conditional, the better
by Published on Sunday, March 21, 2010 by Independent/UK here
America Needs to Stand Up For Israel
Posted by Kevin Boland on March 23rd, 2010
The United States has no stronger ally than Israel, yet American-Israeli relations have deteriorated in recent weeks to lows not seen in decades. Administration officials have characterized Israeli actions as an “affront” and an “insult” to the United States in what the Washington Post called a “10-day spat with Israel.” Last week, the Wall Street Journal accurately described the Administration’s foreign policy: “Our enemies get courted; our friends get the squeeze. It has happened to Poland, the Czech Republic, Honduras and Colombia. Now it’s Israel’s turn.”
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) noted yesterday
The Administration has demonstrated a predictable pattern since it took office: while it makes concessions to countries acting contrary to U.S. national interests, it ignores or snubs the commitments, shared values and sacrifices of many of our country’s best allies. Last week, the Administration demonstrated this pattern yet again when it ‘condemned’ an interim decision by the Israeli housing ministry to proceed with adding units to an existing housing community, yet it meekly responded to President Putin’s announcement that Russia would be sending fuel to Iran to help it launch its first nuclear power plant as ‘premature.
Terrorists have stepped up attacks against Israel in the past few weeks, as the New York Times reported recently: “A foreign worker in Israel was killed Thursday by a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory of Gaza…The Israeli military said the rocket that killed the foreign worker was the third to land in southern Israel in 24 hours, and the 30th to have landed since the beginning of the year.” On top of all that, Israel is facing the potential of a nuclear Iran, whose leader has called Israel “an illegitimate regime” with “no legal basis for its existence.”
At remarks to AIPAC last night, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s put these attacks, and the Iranian nuclear threat, into context that Americans can relate to:
If you want to understand Israel’s security predicament, imagine the entire United States compressed to the size of New Jersey. Next, put on New Jersey’s northern border an Iranian terror proxy called Hezbollah which fires 6,000 rockets into that small state. Then imagine that this terror proxy has amassed 60,000 more missiles to fire at you. Now imagine on New Jerseys southern border another Iranian terror proxy called Hamas. It too fires 6,000 rockets into your territory while smuggling ever more lethal weapons into its territory.
Do you think you would feel a little bit vulnerable? Do you think you would expect some understanding from the international community when you defend yourselves?…We are prepared to take risks for peace, but we will not be reckless with the lives of our people and the life of the one and only Jewish state.As the New York Daily News editorialized last week:
Israel must be able to trust that America has its back, and the Palestinians have got to hear, loudly and clearly, the single message that terrorism, not manufactured grievances over Israel’s rightful capital, is the barrier to their having a full-fledged state. The Obama administration’s bullying has damaged both causes.
And the Jerusalem Post noted today that:
Amid such upheaval, the Obama administration’s sharp condemnation of Israel is not helping. First, it actually pushes Abbas away from the peace table. After all, when America is demanding a freeze in east Jerusalem, Abbas need hardly show greater flexibility. Second, with its US allies suggesting that Israel is being provocative and intransigent, extremists may reason that their use of violence will gain greater international indulgence.
Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Leaders on Capitol Hill, including Leader Boehner, who noted that the “United States has no stronger ally anywhere in the world than Israel.” So far, Israel hasn’t exactly gotten the treatment a staunch ally of the United States deserves from this Administration - and even though Prime Minister Netanyahu will meet with the President tonight, there will be “no photos, no press,” according to a Politico report.
This Administration needs to stop apologizing for America and treating allies as embarrassments.
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