Two articles in Ynet quote two different members of the Obama administration that essentially blame Israel for all of the diplomatic problems and isolation Israel suffers.
First, Leon Panetta, Obama’s Defense Secretary:
“I understand the view that this is not the time to pursue peace, and that the Arab awakening further imperils the dream of a safe and secure, Jewish and democratic Israel. But I disagree with that view,” Panetta said.
How nice of him to disagree that Israel needs to be worried about Jew-hating Islamists that are taking over Egypt and other nations in the Middle East.
Once again, we get the tired old saw that Israel needs to “take risks” for peace.
He said Israel needed to take risks, including by breathing new life into moribund peace talks with Palestinians. When asked by a moderator what steps Israel needed to take to pursue peace, Panetta said: “Just get to the damn table.”
“The problem right now is we can’t get them to the damn table, to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences,” Panetta said.
Not a word about the Palestinian refusal to sit down with Israel. Not a word about Mahmoud Abbas needing to take risks, or at least, responsibility, for not negotiating with Israel since, oh, Barack Obama took office.
Panetta said that while Israel is not solely responsible for its isolation, it could more actively attempt to reverse the trend: “For example, Israel can reach out and mend fences with those who share an interest in regional stability – countries like Turkey and Egypt, as well as Jordan,” he said.
Israel did reach out and try to mend fences. Turkey demanded an apology for the Mavi Marmara incident, the complete opening of the Gaza blockade–which would allow Hamas unlimited access to weapons–and financial compensation for the dead jihaidis. Israel was ready to say they were sorry the jihadis died (but not apologize), give the compensation, and not open the border. Turkey refused. It was all or nothing. So how, exactly, is Israel supposed to mend fences with a country that refuses to compromise? The same way, I suppose, that Israel can bring the Palestinians to the table–by surrendering. Not. Gonna. Happen.
Next up, the American ambassador to Brussels, an Obama appointee, told a Jewish conference that Arab anti-Semitism is not Jew hatred. No, it’s a reaction to Israeli policies.
A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Gutman said. He also argued that an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.
Really? So, the Hamas charter, which contains references to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, is not traditional anti-Semitism, but an understandable reaction to the existence of Israel? Good to know.
Thankfully, the attendees had speakers with common sense immediately afterward.
The conference was attended by Jewish lawyers from across Europe. The legal experts at the event were visibly stunned by Gutman’s words, and the next speaker offered a scathing rebuttal to the envoy’s remarks.
“The modern Anti-Semite formally condemns Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and expresses upmost sympathy with the Jewish people. He simply has created a new species, the “Anti-Zionist” or – even more sophisticated – the so-called ‘Israel critic,’” Germany attorney Nathan Gelbart said.
The ambassador, like Obama, lives in a world that does not really resemble ours.
Approached by Yedioth Ahronoth, the US envoy was asked whether Obama’s policy did not cause America to lose its influence in the region. Gutman responded by saying that the Arab world appreciates Obama following his speech in Cairo, referring to an address delivered by the president in 2009.
Yes, it totally appreciates Obama. It’s thanks to his policies that Islamists are running rampant in Egypt today, and dream of killing all the world’s Jews tomorrow. But that’s in reaction to Israel’s policies.
Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the “Zionist occupiers” and the “treacherous Jews.” Upon leaving the rally, worshippers were given small flags, with Egypt’s flag on one side and the Palestinian flag on the other, as well as maps of Jerusalem’s Old City detailing where “Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem’s Muslim character.”
Peter Wehner wondered recently if Obama’s claims about being the Most. Pro. Israel. President. EVAH! are delusional or deliberately lying. I’m going to go with delusional.
Update: And a timely essay on Muslim anti-Semitism and the reflexive blaming of Israel, by Richard Landes. H/T: Elder. (And check out this comment for the unadulterated anti-Semitism of a reader who sees no irony whatsoever in posting his bile on this article.)
The “they don’t hate Jews, just Israel” assertion is so untrue and so obviously untrue–as anyone who spends ten minutes on the computer searching could easily learn–that I have to assume that the ambassador is consciously lying, or he has an astonishing level of willful blindness.
The spew of hatred from almost every conceivable Arab and particularly Palestinian source rarely bothers with distinguishing Jews and Israel. Arab leaders often refer to “Jews” and not “Israelis.” Their writings are similar. It’s Jews they hate.
Charles Krauthammer goes with delusional, to be polite.
Legal Insurrection has the video link
Can Israel survive a Second Obama Term?
I think my comment to your Friday post holds water.
Well, the thing we have to understand it, unlike almost any president in recent US history, Obama’s stance toward Israel is singularly predicated on keeping the situation at a polite distance so as to avoid entanglement and any threat to a second term. Thus he’ll say whatever his target demo (morons who get all their news from TV) thinks is even-handed.
I wonder if the Obama people have decided that he has bottomed out among Jewish voters, and that nothing he will do regarding Israel will change the votes of the hard-core Jewish voters.
Just a few days ago, Obama was in New York telling Jewish donors how much his Administration has done for Israel, and now we see Panetta and Gutman putting all the blame on Israel for the lack of progress. Something doesn’t add up.
And now to round it off Hillary trashing Israel’s standing as a democratic state
Clinton concerned over Israeli democracy
She is concerned about men and women separated in buses circulating in the ultra-orthodox areas of Jerusalem. She objects to Israelis wanting to know about the foreign groups funding the NGOs and how much George Soros’ minions gave to NIF.
“I have to assume that the ambassador is consciously lying”
There is an old saying, dating from Tud0r England and the early days of resident ambassadors, that “An ambassador is a man sent to lie abroad for his country’s good.”