Obama’s Dangerous Game with Israel
The Jewish state is feeling the pressure from the administration over the "two-state" question.
The Obama administration is stepping up the pressure on the new Israeli government before a critical meeting between the president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 18.
In the wake of comments made by influential National Security Adviser Jim Jones (the de facto secretary of state, in my opinion) to a European foreign minister that America will take a more “forceful hand” towards Israel than previous administrations, comes a new riposte to show that the State Department refuses to be one-upped by the NSC when it comes to dealing with Israel:
Rose Gottemoeller, assistant secretary of state and America’s chief nuclear arms negotiator, has called on Israel (along with Pakistan, India, and North Korea) to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). By including Israel on a list of nations known to either have nuclear weapons or be close to acquiring them (North Korea), Gottemoeller broke with a decades old diplomatic policy of America. Since the late 1960s, America has pursued a policy of not demanding transparency from Israel and, in return, Israel agreed not to test a bomb or declare that it had developed a bomb. This policy was known as “strategic ambiguity.”
The call on Israel to sign the NNPT also has put in jeopardy a secret U.S.-Israel accord, writes Eli Lake in the Washington Times:
President Obama’s efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel’s nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.
For the past 40 years, Israel and the U.S. have kept quiet about an Israeli nuclear arsenal that is now estimated at 80 to 200 weapons. Israel has promised not to test nuclear weapons while the U.S. has not pressed Israel to sign the nuclear NPT, which permits only five countries — the U.S., France, Britain, China and Russia — to have nuclear arms.
The U.S. also has opposed most regional calls for a “nuclear-free Middle East.” The accord was forged at a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and President Nixon on Sept. 25, 1969, according to recently released documents, but remains so secret that there is no explicit record of it. Mr. Cohen has referred to the deal as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” because it commits both the U.S. and Israel never to acknowledge in public Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
The policy has worked well. Israel’s rumored arsenal serves as a deterrent for those enemies who would employ weapons of mass destruction against her, given that the nation arose from the ashes of the Holocaust and is surrounded by enemies who would like nothing better than to stage a sequel to that horror. Her possession of such weapons has been judged a vital strategic interest (was this why Saddam Hussein did not place poison gas on the rockets he bombarded Israel with during the Gulf War?).
Neighboring nations did not feel the need to embark on their own programs, nor has this been an issue for the international community. This is because Israel is a Western democracy, allied with America, and could be trusted with such weapons. Israeli leaders have never broadcast their desire to destroy their neighbors, nor have they ever harbored and nurtured apocalyptic desires to bring about Armageddon — as does Iran’s president.
At the same time, Israel has declared that it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons (and by logical extension, any weapons of mass destruction) in the region. Such a weapon is best left sheathed.
American presidents have appreciated Israeli’s need for such a posture — and its need not to fall under the control of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. That treaty would lead to very intrusive investigation of Israel’s nuclear program. Should nuclear weapons be found, Israel would be under severe pressure to relinquish them. Given that the International Atomic Energy Agency, like all United Nations agencies, is dominated by anti-Israel nations, this would be a foregone conclusion. Israel would be stripped of the very weapons she deems necessary to ensure her survival.
So why the change now?
There is a pattern emerging that this administration intends to use tools at its disposal to pressure Israel to follow America’s lead in the region. A sign of this has been the linkage the Obama team is trying to propound between efforts to derail Iran’s nuclear program and efforts to establish a Palestinian state. The prospect of Israel being compelled to sign the NNPT is another card being played by the Obama team to “encourage” Israel to yield to American proposals on both the Palestinian and Iranian fronts.
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Ed Lasky is news editor of the American Thinker.
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35 Comments
1. BPT (Australia):I believe that asking Israel and Red Korea to ban nukes is like asking a lady and her rapist to give up knives. This is anti-Semitism. One country is a cultic dictatorship with starving masses – and it ain’t Israel.
May 9, 2009 - 1:59 am 2. Ken:The actor prsident again thinks everything fits in his little Oboxes and that only He knows how to master all things large and small with his devil smile and everyone will eventually LOVE ME. I know all the little minds that voted for this clown did it because they know nothing of international complexities and thought how great it would be to have $13.00 big ones. GOD help US and Israel.
May 9, 2009 - 3:16 am 3. David Thomson:There is a serious problem with Ed Lasky’s argument: most Jewish-Americans disagree with him! They have been persuaded that Barack Obama is their secular savior. Furthermore, it would probably be racist to oppose him. I see no evidence to suggest that someone like Marty Peretz is horrified by the behavior of the Obama administration. My guess is that the Messiah still retains the support of over 65% of all Jewish-American voters. Democrats since Franklin D. Roosevelt often realize that they can play them for suckers—and I don’t sense anything changing in the near future. Look how nasty and viciously unfair they were toward Sarah Palin while groveling at the feet of a man who listened to the anti-Semitic rants of his pastor for twenty years.
May 9, 2009 - 5:52 am 4. MiamaMan:Israel is in big trouble. The only solution now is to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and damage them as much as possible, and if Iran answers with any weapon of mass destruction to nuke them.
80% of American Jews voted for Obama. Hardcore liberal Jews whose mindset is against Israel’s interests, control many aspects of the Obama administration, such as Rahm Emanuel, and the grey eminence behind the throne, David Axelrod, who propelled Obama to power.
But Israel is like a Petri dish where the major problems of the West are being played out and enacted.
Interestingly enough, Israel has now the power to force the Obama administration’s hand, and even to derail it from its folly of appeasing and engaging Syria and Iran without preconditions, but for that it must act quickly against Iran. Unfortunately, Tzipi Livni was more capable for that move than Netanyahu, as he and the Likud are weighed down by suspicion and bound to make the big mistake, as they apparently are doing, of appease and cave in to Obama. This is a sure road to disaster.
May 9, 2009 - 6:21 am 5. Sebastian Shaw:Israel will protect itself against Iran while Israel tells Obama where to put his idea of banning Israel nuclear weapons. Obama is living in La-La Land. The man-child will be humbled by Israel & made a fool. All the better…
May 9, 2009 - 6:52 am 6. Jeff:Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May 9, 2009 - 9:11 am 7. Morry Rotenberg:Most American politicians promise to support Israel in their election campaigns. After election they do what they think is best for America and Israel has to deal with this and do what is best for her. Even the Regan administration was against taking out Saddam’s nuclear reactor, yet Israel did what it needed to do. I think that the same will be the case vis a viz Iran. Israel will find a way with or without American support to neutralize that threat.
May 9, 2009 - 9:19 am 8. David Thomson:Liberal American Jews are unfortunately similar to their Israeli counterparts and have come to the conclusion that there is no more need for a Jewish homeland and are “post-Zionist” and totally secular. They have all forgotten about the “open hunting season” on Jews that was the case in Europe during WW II. There was no place to escape to, no country that would give them sanctuary. The irony, of course is that if there were no Israel today it would again be “open season” on Jews across the world.
“Even the Regan administration was against taking out Saddam’s nuclear reactor”
Ronald Reagan was not initially thrilled by the attack. And yet, he made sure to continue supporting Israel. He considered both countries to be essentially on the same page. Reagan was a true friend—and moreover he saw the need for a militarily strong Israel. That’s regrettably not the case regarding the Obama administration. There is little doubt but that the present president demands its government pursue appeasement policies. A militarily weak Israel supposedly benefits world peace. It will let the Palestinian radicals feel more secure and encourage them to lay down their arms and sing Kumbaya.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration may have left much to be desired. But every Republican administration since then has preferred to see Israel being able to vigorously defend itself. All the Democrat administrations, on the other hand, since the execrable Jimmy Carter prefer the exact opposite—including the too often-praised Bill Clinton.
May 9, 2009 - 10:28 am 9. KDW:If it gets down to it’s very survival, Israel won’t care what
Obama thinks. They will attack Iran’s nuclear program if they
think it can be destroyed. What is Obama going to do? Declare
war on Israel? Israel must have noticed that nobody seems
to be paying any attention to Obama. The Iranians, Syrians,
Russians and North Koreans are all laughing at him. Why
should the Israeli’s listen to him?
The only reason Israel heeds the United States opinion is that
up til now it has been in their best interests to do so. Once the
United States becomes a detriment to them, the Israeli’s will
stop seeking to coordinate any of their plans with Washington.
Team Obama will lose control of the Israeli’s actions. Israel
can ruin any of Obama’s plans if they want to. Of course this
would only happen if Israel felt that Obama was pushing them
to the wall.
Mr. Laskey can also rest easy about Israel’s nuclear arsenal.
May 9, 2009 - 12:12 pm 10. dmgold:There is absolutely no chance they will relinquish their
nukes. Those nukes are Israel’s last line of defense and the
reason other U.S. Presidents have not thrown Israel overboard
to appease the Arab dictators. Obama is dreaming if he thinks
that they will.
Obama is going to dig himself a huge MF hole. Nuclear pakistan is near collapse (on his watch)Israel is rolling with the blows and we start to see a picture of disengagement/mistrust between previously unshakeable allies(on his watch). The so called moderate arab states(egypt/SA,Jordan) have been sidelined and feel betrayed and patronised more than by any other President(on his watch).
The one thing Obama hasnt worked out yet is that the peace process was never meant to come to fruition it was supposed to remain a process. Abbas knows that an independent Palistine will be taken over by a radical Hamas(as happened in Gaza). Abdullah knows that a radical independent Palestine will gobble up his illegitimate Kingdom of Jordan (it never existed in History in substance or name) , Syria considers Palestine as southern Syria and will never allow an independent Palestine to flourish, Egypt seas Gaza as a finger of radicalism in its heart. Israel could not tolerate a radicalised west bank with a 300 km undefendable border and primitive home made missiles able to reach population centres such as Tel Aviv , Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport and on and on.
May 9, 2009 - 12:41 pm 11. Adina Kutnicki,Israel:Obama like his mentor Carter will cause the deaths of Millions around the Globe. I hope when it is over Obama is held accountable and brought before the hague and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
My advice to Bibi would go thusly – smile politely, nod in the proper places and tell him Israel will get back to him. Then, ignore everything he demanded and give Washington the heave ho.
I place my ‘hope’ in the IAF flyboys. As far as Obama – not so much.
May 9, 2009 - 1:12 pm 12. Judy, NYC:By the way, being a so called best friend to Washington ain’t such a good bargain. Israel’s appeasement oriented leaders would to well to learn from their Arab ‘cousins’ in the area of f–k you diplomacy to Washington.
jews are patient with complicated situations because they are always thinking things through, there’s always a good deal of controversy, divurgence of opinion, and talk. but once things are a settled matter israel will do what is best for world jewry and the jewish state.
May 9, 2009 - 2:20 pm 13. Joe Six-Pack:somehow, obama does not get any of this. nor does he understand anything at all about foreign policy or cultures and societies different from his own narrow rigid notions.
obama can sing kumbaya to himself all day and all night and imagine that hamas and hezbulla aren’t al queda, or that terrorists are not in our midst, or that the power of a fist is not the only weapon against evil.
as the philosophers (and the more recent additions, psychiatrists), point out since the beginning of time, reality intrudes.
let us pray and hope fervently that it does not intrude in some devestating debacle while our freshman president is running around with a butterfly net.
President Obama is playing with fire. I believe that the moves that he is making is actually making war much more likely rather than reducing the possibility.
Change is what President Obama ran on. I believe that he will bring change all right. I just don’t think that he understands the full scope of the changes that will occur.
May 9, 2009 - 3:07 pm 14. James:MIAMAMAN: It’s amazing, isn’t it? I cannot reconcile the attitudes of Jewish voters who want to see Israel free and at peace, and their heavy support for Obama. I really respect our Jewish friends and have always been a vocal supporter of Israel. But I fear that most modern American Jews are his (or her) worst enemy. The writing was on the wall for anyone who cares about the future of Israel: Obama’s personal connections and advisors (Khalidi and Susan Powers), his attendance of a Black Powerist Church (which often take a decidely anti-semtic bent, as in the case of Reverend Wright refering the Farrakhan as a “great man” and a “friend”); Obama’s socialist background in the Saul Alinsky established Chicago “community organization” (most communists and socialists of history have either been indifferent to the Jews or outright hateful, as was Alinsky); to the rumor that a wealthy Saudi paid for Obama’s harvard education (and UNPROVEN rumor, I must add). Was it really unexpected that Obama is more distant than his predecesors? And I am certain that worse is to come.
May 9, 2009 - 3:49 pm 15. ChoctawMan - American:I have a question for Ed Lasky, the author of this piece. But, first let me state that my position is firmly in support of Israel. I blog on a local forum daily and debate anti-Semites, anti-Zionists and anti-Americans, all of whom hold a strong belief that Israel is a warmongering state and would like to destroy their Arab neighbors. Of course I don’t believe this to be true, except in a case where Israel is at war and naturally, wants to destroy or defeat their enemy.
May 9, 2009 - 8:43 pm 16. fred:The question for Ed Lasky – in your piece, you state, “Israeli leaders have never broadcast their desire to destroy their neighbors…”
Is this a “slip of the pen” or do you have an underlying reason for insinuating that Israel might actually want to destroy their neighbors?
Please explain??
I realize this is a complicated subject, so I need to proceed carefully. First, my declaration that I am a Roman Catholic who is a supporter of Israel’s integrity and existence. I am not a Jew hater; in fact I consider myself a friend and ally of Jews and Israel.
I am also a former Marxist. Now let me be clear about this: I do not say this lightly, but the facts to compel me to say it. Jews overwhelmingly are represented in various Marxist and Communist factions that bay for the blood of Israel. The Left is the sworn enemy of Israel, Judaism, and also Christianity.
How can we Christian supporters of Jews and Israel hope to have any impact when so many Jews themselves sell out their own people and land? This is not to deny the fact that there are plenty of Christians (Leftist ones) who sell out the Church or churches to the socialists at every turn. But, when I take note of the history of socialism/Marxism/Communism everywhere, at high levels, and very prominently, I frequently find the names of Jews.
This is a scandal. I often wonder how God can abide this, when His own Chosen People are determined to destroy themselves.
May 9, 2009 - 10:13 pm 17. Harry Wall:I think
May 9, 2009 - 10:19 pm 18. Haggy Williams:Isreal will do anything to protect themselves even fi it will cost them the reiationship with the Obama Administration. Give it 4 years G-D willing there will be a republican in the white house that will respect and appreciate Isreal as an ally.
I can’t recall anytime in the past 40 years or so of anytime any Israeli government threatening to “wipe out some Arab state” or “kill the Arabs”. That is the sort of rhetoric you hear from, lately, the Palestinians and the leader of Iran. It has also been stated loudly and proudly by Hamas and Hizbullah, among others. Again, the point is that it is not the Israeli’s who have been threatening death and destruction to their neighbors. So lets take a look at the antagonists. On one side we have Israel, a small country, population about 7 million or so, about the size of Delaware. On the other side we have 22 or so Arab countries that make up the rest of the Middle East, population over 100 million. And Obambi thinks Israel should give up it’s weapons?
May 9, 2009 - 10:44 pm 19. tforeman:It’s astonishing to me that the current administration is screwing up the U.S.-Israel connection and is so willing to abandon that nation to the wolves.
May 9, 2009 - 10:50 pm 20. Professor Guvinof:Who is this stranger in the White House?
Talk about contrast. On one side there is guy using strong arm tactics while hoping to polish his image; On the other, a small nation trying to defend its life under the burden of quasi-universal hate.
Not knowing a lot about psychology, I can only suppose that, when push comes to shove, the survival instinct trumps the preening reflex. By the way, ever wonder what Goliath last demand could have been, exactly?
May 9, 2009 - 10:55 pm 21. PatriotUSA:As the mullah obamaham continues to be the re-incarnated Jimmy “the coward Carter” and worse, Israel is quickly realizing that the dance is over and Israel in now a wallflower. Let us not forget where the Mullah obamahma is going to give his next speech to the islamaofacist world, from Egypt, an ally of convienience only. BHO was raised around extreme leftist liberals, anti-semities, Jew hating ministers, and the likes of Louis “the nazi” Farrakhan, and other far left filth. Israel will only have so much patience with the follies and bumbling
antics of the Obuma administration. The fact that BHO’s gang of losers, liars and tax cheats is giving Iran until this fall to step up to the plate will backfire and my prediction is that when this does backfire, Israel will be able to handle her problems herself, and on her own terms. The mullah obamaham is a closet muslim, rabid islamosympathizer and the worse dhimmi fool this country has ever seen.
Yes, the worst if yet to come.
There is no peace within islam, and with islam there can be peace!
May 10, 2009 - 12:24 am 22. Naftali:Fred,
Don’t feel you need to proceed carefully. It’s all very simple. I’ll try to answer your questions in no particular order. The Left used to be a strong supporter of Israel. So if you see middle aged Jews walking around proud of their left leanings, those Jews are still leaning left, but the wall moved. Why can’t most Jews see this? Because for all the independent, intellectually free jargon, for the most part, we do what our parents did, and what our grandparents did. Deep in our hearts, we are just that conservative–we do it because that’s what grandma and grandpa used to do, vote Democratic. Of course, not all Jews voted Democratic. Some Jews voted Republican. But all Jews voted the way they feel their grandparents would have wanted. I’ll say it another way–what we do best is connect with our past, no matter what we think we are doing in the present. That action of connecting with our past–that’s where the strength is. So the Christian supporters of Jews and Israel, the Jews are with you. But our open arms are extended towards our history. It works. We’re still here.
May 10, 2009 - 1:13 am 23. MiamaMan:14. James:
A agree 100%, I like your name James who I gave to a now teenage son, St. James, from the Greek Iago, or Saint Iago, the favorite disciple of Christ, that is also the Patron Saint of Spain Santiago, of Santiago de Compostela fame, also known as “the Moor Slayer” (in Spanish Santiago Mata Moros, name of the Mexican city of Matamoros, who once more must surface to save Christendom). His likeness is in every medieval cathedral in Spain, like in Avila cathedral, small statue at left corner top of entrance, riding horse with lance slaying a Turk.
Let me try to answer you and 16) Fred, using the thoughts of a famous American Jew (son of German Jew immigrants), Eric Hoffer, who received The Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1982, in his book “The True Believer” he dwells on the complexity of the Jewish character and wrote under the section of “Misfits”, page 44, the following, quote:
“…the Jew found himself an individual, terribly alone in a hostile world. There was no collective body he could blend with and lose himself in. The synagogue and the congregation had become shriveled lifeless things…thus the modern Jew became the most autonomous of individuals, and inevitably, too, the most frustrated. It is not surprising, therefore, that the mass movements of modern times often found in him a ready convert…”
Why do you think the majority of those surrounding Lenin (himself a 1/4 Jew), were Jews? Such as Trotsky, Litvinov, Lazar Kaganovish, later an Stalin instrument, and many others. Hitler claims of a Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy was not far fetched, as Mark himself was also a Jew.
Thus you find in the US, among the most frustrated, the more Marxist, anti-Zionist, and Holocaust Negationists (Noam Chomsky and Howard Finkelstein), Nihilist and community organizers (late Saul Alinsky, current grey eminence behind Obama’s throne David Axelrod, and Rahm Emanuel), Castro’s friend (Steven Speilberg), and on and on.
If Nazism were not against Jews, they would have flock to it too.
Israel was the cure for the Jews. The Israeli Jews have a community and are different. Still, the rot is already starting inside Israel from many Western Aliya, mainly American, Jews (Former Soviet Aliya Jews like former dissident Nathan Sharansky, know better than that).
Capici?
May 10, 2009 - 6:37 am 24. DoubleTapper:Here in Israel,we already know what Obama is planning for us!
Do you?
May 10, 2009 - 10:59 am 25. Naftali:#23 Miamaman,
I think we like to think we’re autonomous, but think about it, we are astounding creatures of habit, even in our thought processes. The Chomsky’s of the world tell us more about their parents than their own autonomous thought, although, you must admit, they hide it well. Just try this little experiment. Next time you converse with just such a fellow, don’t focus on their arguments and words, focus on their parents and how that person must have been raised. Watch what happens when they aren’t able to hide it. Family problems are family problems.
But the bottom line is, like everything in our past, we might get hurt, but we’ll come out stronger, and we’ll be still be here.
May 10, 2009 - 1:53 pm 26. Edward Norden:Miamaman, the great Eric Hoffer wasn’t Jewish.
May 10, 2009 - 6:12 pm 27. Rob:As to the idea expressed by several posters that Israel will finally do what it has to do, regardless of the current U.S. president, I tend to agree. However, will Obama order the U.S. Air force to intercept the Israelis as they fly towards Nantaz?
The big question that needs to be asked is: what will be the consequences to the world after a nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran?
May 10, 2009 - 8:31 pm 28. Michael Lonie:I think it is a bit simpler. Most American Jews vote Democrat because they still think they are voting for FDR and Harry Truman. The tremendous difference between the leftists who run the Dem Party today and the liberals of the past is lost on them. It’s not just Jews either. The big split of the Dems came in 1972 with the nomination of George McGovern and the triumph of the heirs of Henry Wallace, who still run the Party. After that it was all downhill for the Dems like Scoop Jackson, and the party has trended ever more to the left. I had an aunt who was about as redneck as they came, the very opposite of the McGovernites in every way. She voted Dem that year because, she told me, it was the party of FDR.
May 10, 2009 - 9:21 pm 29. gadzooks:There must have been enlightened Egyptians of the Exodus time who, as the Pharaoh was issuing the edict regarding the firstborn, would blog, “we already had frogs and locust and such, isn’t that enough Mr. Pharaoh?”
May 10, 2009 - 10:53 pm 30. Naftali:#27 Rob,
It’s been asked and answered long ago. But Iran doesn’t mind the answer. Nor does the UN. Nor does the US. Nor does Egypt. Nor does Lebanon. Nor does the EU. The only country that seems serious enough to stop it from happening, that is, to stop Iran before they have a usable nuclear weapon, the only country wanting to stop them is Israel. Anyone you hang with notice that?
May 11, 2009 - 1:33 am 31. MiamaMan:26. Edward Norden:
OK, Ed, may be Eric Hoffer was Chinese, that works?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer
May 11, 2009 - 4:29 am 32. Edward Norden:31. Miamaman
May 11, 2009 - 5:18 pm 33. MiamaMan:It’s true, Wikipedia says Hoffer was Jewish, but maybe we should be skeptical. The Brittanica article referenced doesn’t say he was. In fact, there’s a longstanding debate over this. I’ll be happy to admit my mistake if you or anybody else comes up with something conclusive—such as his own writing on the matter.
Ed, stop muddying the water. He was really an atheist, but son of German Jewish immigrants, I guess that qualifies him as a Jew. I think he was born in Shtetl Brooklyn, Jew York City. Voilà!
May 12, 2009 - 4:34 am 34. Brian:#12 Judy-I too have full confidence in Israel and that Israel will do whats best for the world regardless of what Obama has to say.The IAF is fully capable and willing im sure.
May 13, 2009 - 6:21 pm 35. Bob from Virginia:I, too, am an Eric Hoffer fanatic, I never read in any of his work or biographies that he was Jewish, although pro-Israel. I may have overlooked or forgotten something but I too would like to know the source of that information.
It is good to know that we Hofferians are still around.
May 29, 2009 - 10:06 pm