by Sally Zahav
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013
On March 5, 2012, during the Israeli prime minister's visit to the White House, Obama famously said to Netanyahu, "We will always have Israel's back". There are those who may have been reassured by his declaration of support, but for many lovers of Israel, these were empty words.
There are simply too many examples to prove that either Obama doesn't care about Israel's defense, or misunderstands how to secure it, and the recent delivery of F-16s to Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Egypt is just one of the most egregious cases. The four F-16s are apparently only the first installment of a total of 16 F-16 fighter jets and 200 tanks to be delivered by the end of next year.
Watch a video segment with Fox News' Sean Hannity about the gift of F-16 jets to Egypt, and the concern it arouses among some experts in Foreign Affairs.
Obama's choice for three of the most important roles: Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, John Kerry for Secretary of State and John Brennan for CIA director, all indicate how Obama chooses people who downplay the danger of radical Islam, while disregarding Israel's security needs.
These three nominations, plus the naming of Jack Lew for Secretary of the Treasury, present the Republican members of Congress with a kind of "Sophie's Choice" dilemma. Traditionally, Congress allows a president to name his cabinet appointees and Supreme Court Justices with a minimum of objection, unless there are exceptional factors involved. Each of these four nominees poses difficulties for the Republicans, but they know that they cannot object vehemently to all of them. They will have to choose one, probably, if at all, to mount a campaign against. But choosing to object to any one of the nominees to these posts means that all three of the others will have to be abandoned.
Another famous Obama utterance about Israel is: "Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are". This, because supposedly the decision to build housing units in areas that are considered part of a future State of Palestine will exacerbate Israel's isolation among the nations of the world. Are we to think that Obama knows better what Israel's interests are? The arrogance is truly breathtaking. But in Numbers (23:9) we are told that Israel "is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations". Could Obama think that he knows Israel's best interests better than G-d?
Obama's conduct during the events of the ludicrously mislabeled "Arab Spring" is another very good indication that whatever his underlying motive, he is more interested in promoting warm relations with Arab or Muslim regimes than with Israel, even when those regimes have become dominated by Jew-hating, Christian-hating, war-mongering Islamists who plan to implement Shari'a law as soon as they can get away with it.
For those of us who think that Islam is used as a political ideology that poses a grave threat to personal freedoms, for those of use who are aware of what the Islamist leaders say in Arabic to their populace; for those of us who watch with dismay as these leaders trample on the most basic rights of their own citizens, (and in the case of Syria, rape and murder them with impunity) and call for genocide of Jews - not Israelis - Jews, President Obama's actions of the past two years, while the Arab-on-Arab intifadas of the interminable "Spring" have been played out, have been very disturbing. His administration has consistently misread the political and religious maps in the Middle East. Since, for political purposes, they wanted to present a world where "al-Qaeda is on its heels", they were apparently oblivious to the repeated kicks in the behind to American interests from al-Qaeda in all of its various guises.
Or they were trying to hide these realities from the American public, which is probably worse.
The Obama administration has repeatedly and vociferously denied the dangerous infiltration of the US governmental, military and educational systems. Some of the highest officials dismiss the potential dangers that the Muslim Brotherhood poses, both to the US and Israel. A glaring example of this is when US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood was "mostly secular".
The question arises: Does Obama's behavior stem from misunderstanding of the realities of the Muslim world and the Middle East, or perhaps the delusional belief that his powers of leadership will create a new reality, or, does it stem from a deep understanding of the situation and simply reflects his vision for a New Middle East that many Americans and certainly most Israelis would find extremely disturbing.
After observing Obama's aggressive, bullying, hypocritical style in dealing with Republicans in Congress, I've concluded that Obama is an enemy of sincere discourse, an enemy of constructive compromise, in short, an arrogant autocrat, and because of the enormous power of his office, an extremely dangerous agent, both to Israel and to the United States. Never have I felt so concerned for my country of birth (the United States) and my adopted country (Israel).
Perhaps Obama imagines that with the gift of F-16s to Egypt, Israel will be forced into negotiations that will end in a Palestinian state. After all, he feels the responsibility, like a firm parent, to impose upon intransigent, misguided Israel what is best for it. This would be totally consistent with his style of "leadership". Perhaps he thinks that the threat to Israel that will be posed by this increased Egyptian weaponry will leave us no choice but to gamble out of desperation on the establishment of a Palestinian state. A state led by holocaust deniers and rabid anti-Semites, a state that a priori forbids any Jew to live within it. (Technically, that wouldn't be apartheid, would it, since there would not be a minority group to oppress and exclude - except for the Christians. ) All of our neighbors actually want nothing more or less than to erase Israel from the map, just as they have literally done in PA school books. If you don't believe it, have a look at the PLO Charterand the Hamas Charter.
Is this Obama's intention? To manipulate Israel into a corner where (he thinks) we will have no other option? For us Israelis, it doesn't matter whether his actions stem from hostility or ignorance. Israel will survive and thrive, because the Almighty has our back, and will prevail over any mischief that Obama may try to cook up for us.
Sally Zahav
Source: Middle East and Terrorism
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.