Obama To Israel: This Way To The Trains

I'm trying to get this straight. Iran is at the threshhold of joining the world list of nuclear powers. The only "threat" they seem to voice any concern about is Israel. They have already invested tens of millions of dollars in bankrolling Hizbullah in Lebanon in their quest to destroy Israel.

Now Israel is threatening to bomb the reactor being constructed by the Iranians, which is perceived as a threat by other Arab countries in the region. The reaction of the Obama administration is to strong arm Israel to give up the West Bank if it wants America's continued support. Rahm Emmanuel, whose appointment was supposed to be such good news for Israel's supporters is busy twisting arms and other body parts in an attempt to whip Israel into line with Obama administration policy.

Jason Koutsoukis, reporting in The Age , an Australian newspaper reports on Emmanuel, (whose last name translates into German as "Gott Mit Uns") as follows.

"No less a figure than White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel — whose father fought with the militant Zionist group the Irgun, and whose appointment had provided such reassurance to Israeli officials — was quoted this week laying down the law to Israel.

If Israel wants US help to defuse the Iranian threat, Mr Emanuel was reported to have told Jewish leaders in Washington, then get ready to start evacuating settlements in the West Bank."

Additionally, according to The Age the White House has been sending signals to Israeli leaders that are far less than welcoming, informing Bibi Betanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel that his visit to Washington had been called off. To further drive home his point, The Age reports the White House as having informed the Israelis as follows.

"Washington sources added that the Obama Administration would not be continuing the tradition that had developed during the Bush years of hosting Israeli prime ministers whenever they showed up in town, sometimes with just a phone call's notice."

To translate this into laymen's terms, this would be a bit like telling your mother in law who has flown three thousand miles to see your family that you would be happy to welcome her with a cup of coffee from McDonalds on your way to dropping her off at Motel Six. Unless your mother in law is Typhoid Mary, and hell bent on fixing formula for her grandchild this might be considered a highly inappropriate reaction to normal family tensions.

Now Israel is sitting in Obama's waiting room with England, France and other one time American allies who Obama is also too busy to see since he is busy making overtures to America's enemies like North Korea, Iran and Venezuela. A political cartoonist would do well to portray Obama as a wannabee motorcycle gang member gunning the engine on his moped with his vinyl faux leather motorcycle jacket flapping in the wind over his shirt tails, leaving his faithful nerdy friends behind in a cloud of smoke.

The Israeli response to the latest disagreement might not be good for the military sector of America's economy. According to The Age ,"It might have been no more than coincidence, but yesterday Israeli defence officials told the liberal daily Haaretz that Israel's $US15 billion ($A21 billion) purchase of 75 US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets was now under review due to "the unexpected high cost and disagreements with the manufacturer"

So what does the score card look like? Obama is busy alienating America's allies while he kisses up to rogue states that have by no means given up on their aggressive designs. He seems hell bent on extracting territorial concessions that could put Israel's population of seven million people in mortal danger. Unfortunately for Obama, the Israelis elected a leader who has reacted to unceasing terrorist and rocket attacks with a hard line position against unrewarded territorial concessions.

A crucial difference between Israel and its Arab neighbours is that if an Arab country loses a war with Israel, it loses territory. If Israel were to lose such a war, it would cease to exist.

Israelis have not asked American soldiers to fight and die for their continued existence. They have paid with their own lives in war, and they have paid with their own civilian lives in times of peace as well. Whether it must defend itself on the battlefield yet again or clean up after more terrorist attacks, any decision made by Israel's Prime Minister will have a cost in blood. This is a choice that has been thrust upon the Jewish State, unlike the suicide bombers, terror squads and Arab armies that chose to wage war against Israel's continued presence on the map of the Middle East.

Against this the historical backdrop of repeated efforts to wipe Israel off the map, Obama's intervention sounds glib and naive at best. His arm twisting is a test Israel must withstand. It is a pity for Israel to have lost such a long standing friend. But the people that survived the ghettoes of Europe and the farhud in Baghdad will with G-d's help survive this. It is a far greater loss to the American people that its President is deserting his allies in Europe and elsewhere while he chases a mirage. What a pity.


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The following are pictures from after an anti Jewish pogrom in Hebron in 1929, which was 19 years before the founding of the State of Israel. May G-d avenge their blood and may Jews forever live in the holy city of Hebron.The "peace" of 1929 will not be the "peace" of 2009!