Obama is considering imposing a so-called American "peace plan." It is being put together by a collection of long time foes of Israel, among them Brent Scowcroft, Gen. Jim Jones and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Apparently Obama has grown tired of the effort to jump-start negotiations between Israel and Abbas and wants to end the conflict in one fell swoop. As Daniel Greenfield points out, it's a nicer way of saying "Destroy Israel."
There can be little doubt that any Obama plan would be a Munich-in-the-making. He can be thwarted if there is sufficient resistance from Israel and from the American Jewish community which, if it mobilized, could muster substantial support from evangelical Christians and from Congress.
A Pathetic AIPAC
The outlook for vigorous confrontation of the administration is thus far not hopeful. When Hillary Clinton addressed the annual AIPAC convention (these are the folks supposedly most committed to Israel's welfare) she received a standing ovation. This despite the fact that she excoriated Netanyahu over the Jerusalem housing project (a "crisis" manufactured by Obama).
When she had a word of blame for the Arab side, it was for Hamas, which she condemned for dedicating the town square in Ramallah to a killer of dozens of Israeli civilians. Only trouble is that it was Fatah (which can do no wrong in the lights of the Obama administration) which dedicated the square to a Fatah killer, a problem Hillary neatly resolved by transporting Ramallah to Gaza, an absurdity so transparent it's a wonder she had the nerve to pull it off. As attendee Matthew Hausman points out, it was only after the fact that AIPAC offered any criticism.
The time for meaningful rebuke passed the moment she left the room. Hausman notes that what AIPAC should have done was have a representative stand up immediately and address Clinton's misstatements point by point and then have her reactions recorded on videotape.
Netanyahu, Stay Home
Netanyahu decided to skip his scheduled trip to Washington to attend a nuclear security conference hosted by Obama. Although the conference was billed as dealing with the problem of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to terrorist groups, Netanyahu feared that it would turn into a gang-up on Israel to demand that it sign the International Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In fact, as long as Obama remains President, Netanyahu is best off staying clear of the United States. In the October 2009 Outpost we urged Netanyahu to stay home. We wrote then: "By coming to the United States he merely strengthened Obama...what happened was wholly predictable. Netanyahu was berated by an irate and impatient Obama, and like a chastened and frightened schoolboy hastened to say being beaten up was a "salutary experience."
Not content with being bullied last September Netanyahu returned for yet worse treatment in March. This time, after failing to extract a written promise by Netanyahu to do as he commanded, Obama literally walked out on Netanyahu at the White House, saying he was going to have dinner, and urged him to remain to consult with his advisers and "let me know if there is anything new," i.e. if he had decided to cave in.
This episode also hurt Netanyahu at home. Haaretz seized on his humiliation to declare "The Prime Minister leaves America disgraced, isolated and altogether weaker than when he came."
Netanyahu would be better off urging Obama to visit Israel when he had anything new to offer-something other than Israeli concessions.
Upending Israel-U.S. Relations
Obama has blocked all major Israeli weapons requests while freely providing advanced weapons to the Arabs. Case in point: JINSA (Jewish Institute for Natioanl Security Affairs) reports that Israel's request for 4D Apache Longbow attack helicopters was blocked at the very same time the administration approved the sale to Egypt of those same helicopters.
Roepke on Israel
No, Wilhelm Roepke was writing in 1948 about prescient 19th century thinkers who foresaw the crises of the twentieth century but the words (we quote from J.R. Nyquist's summary) certainly apply to Israel (and the U.S.): "It appears that in all great crises of world history most people utterly deceive themselves as to where they stand...an optimistic self deception prevails...How slowly we grasp the meaning of facts. How tenaciously we struggle against a disagreeable awakening. How unready we are to admit that we have built our society upon an avalanche.
Source: Mideast Outpost
