It seems to me that Obama's Middle East policy hasn't done much to move the ball forward toward peace. He seems to suffer from some naivete about the region, which is understandable given that it's never been a major focus of his throughout his career. So his early focus on Israeli settlements in the West Bank (which I also oppose and believe are a barrier to peace) has not had the desired effect- Netanyahu and the Israeli Right has just dug in its heels more, and Palestinians have taken to demanding withdrawals from Settlements in order to come to the bargaining table.
On the other hand, I don't think American neo-con policies have really helped Israel either. For all GWB's (clearly sincere) love of Israel, he was also ineffective in moving things in a positive direction. In fact, the Iraq misadventure may have taken things in the opposite direction, and it appears Iran made lots of progress in developing their nuclear program under Bush's watch. Maybe the real lesson is that progress in the Middle East is just really hard to make. The greatest progress toward Israel's security was made during the Carter administration, when a peace treaty with Egypt was signed. Now Carter isn't very friendly toward Israel, but his approach seemed to work pretty well (it didn't hurt that an Arab leader, Anwar Sadat, made a monumental and perhaps fatal decision to make peace during that time).
Now I'm not a single-issue voter, but if I thought American policies were going to destroy Israel, I guess I'd become one.
Yesterday I was talking with a wise relative who pointed out that just because Netanyahu is disgusted with the US president, that doesn't mean there's a dispute with Israel per se. The dispute is more between Obama and the Israeli Right, which happens to be ascendent right now there. So today I looked around for what the Israeli Left is saying about BHO- it's not quite so negative.
(JTA) -- Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni praised President Obama’s Middle East policy speech and warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was opening a rift with the United States by criticizing it.
"An American president that supports a two-state solution represents the Israeli interest and is not anti-Israeli," Livni, the leader of Israel’s Kadima Party, said on Friday. "President Obama's call to start negotiations represents Israel's interests."
She said that “a prime minister that harms the relationship with the U.S. over something unsubstantial is harming Israel's security and deterrence.” According to The Jerusalem Post, Livni said that such a prime minister should resign.
"I am saying this loud and clear," she said.
Her stance was criticized by Otniel Schneller, a Knesset member from her Kadima Party.
“Obama’s speech has placed before Israeli society and its representatives the challenge of unity and national agreement,” Schneller said. “The political disagreements and aspiration of the opposition parties should not overpower their responsibility for the future of the state.”
One item, granted, but I'm glad to see that some in Israel see things the way I do.
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