To the Editor:
Obama’s pretext for pressuring Israel, which JTA reported in its story, “At White House, U.S. Jews offer little resistance to Obama policy on settlements," is disingenuous. Obama asserted that when there was “no daylight” between the U.S. and Israel under President Bush there was no peace progress. This excuse, however, is invalid.
First, Obama seeks to ally himself with Muslim potentates by pilloring Israel. Rahm Emanuel, speaking then as an Obama supporter, told some of us in Hartford last year that the U.S. has to regain credibility with the Gulf States. The context of his remarks, however, including his claim that former Prime Minister Barak said that if he was a Palestinian, he’d join the PLO, indicated that this “credibility” would be at Israel’s expense. This further indicates that Obama seeks to ingratiate himself with Muslims by denigrating and scapegoating Israel.
Second, Obama failed to disclose that even when the US pressured Israel, as Clinton did when he invited Arafat to the White House repeatedly and never imposed a price for PLO terrorism, this also did not bring peace.
Third, as Abe Foxman, National ADL Director stated in Cutting Edge News, Bush, also pressured Israel by supporting a Palestinian state, the road map, and the Annapolis process. This also did not bring peace.
Obama also omitted other material facts. When Israel retreated territorially, as from southern Lebanon (2000), Judea and Samaria under Oslo (1993-1996), and Gaza (2005), all she received in return were Hezbollah, Hamas, a horrific, unprecedented onslaught of terrorism, and massive rocket-missile assaults.
Obama had thus disregarded his own warning about being “blind to the truth.” Jewish leaders should have challenged him on this then and there.
Daniel R. Schaefer
Harford, CT
