President Obama is right
American president right to demand that Netanyahu end policy of ambiguity
Adi Mintz Published: 04.08.10, 17:18 / Israel Opinion One year is sufficient in order to examine the direction our government is heading to. At least this is the view of our prime minister, who recently presented his government’s achievements. However, while Netanyahu boasted of some economic achievements, he could not do the same in respect to the diplomatic front, and hence did not talk much about it. So is the diplomatic approach he adopted this year appropriate, or does he need to change direction at this time?
The diplomatic rift vis-à-vis the United States, which among other things was manifested through Netanyahu’s humiliation by Obama during the PM’s recent Washington trip, did not start now. The publication of the photo of Obama with his feet on his desk while talking to Netanyahu on the phone, and the way he bowed to Saudi king Abdullah already showed us the US Administration’s direction.
It doesn’t matter at all whether Obama is anti-Semitic, or what’s the level of influence held by the Jews around him; it doesn’t matter whether he got these views at Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s church or whether he was educated by J Street members and by Rahm Emanuel. What we’re seeing is a clear and incisive demand from the Administration to Israel: Stop dressing up! Tell us who you really are.
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Obama’s humiliating conduct brought the Israeli government back to the ground. Israeli voters granted a mandate to a rightist government and do not wish to see their government continuing to be dragged into deep leftist territory, with calls to premise the State of Israel on the “Auschwitz borders” as Abba Eban referred to them. America, even if it’s the world’s greatest democracy, cannot force the Israeli government to act against the democratic decision of the Israeli people.
And so, a year into the Netanyahu government’s term in office, it must tell Obama clearly: We are back in the land of Zion and Jerusalem. During the Passover holiday, Israeli sat at the Seder table and said: “Next year in the rebuilt Jerusalem.” Indeed, Jerusalem is being built, and it will continue to be built.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3873093,00.html