By Caroline B. Glick, JWR
It is hard to believe, but it appears that in the wake of the Palestinian unity deal that brings the genocidal, al Qaida-aligned, local franchise of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Hamas into a partnership with Fatah, US President Barack Obama has decided to open a new round of pressure on Israel to give away its land and national rights to the Palestinians. It is hard to believe that this is the case. But apparently it is.
On Wednesday The Wall Street Journal reported that while Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in Washington next week, and before the premier has a chance to give his scheduled address to a joint session of Congress, Obama will give a new speech to the Arab world. In that speech, Obama will praise the populist movements that have risen up against Arab tyrannies and embrace them as the model for the future. As for Israel, the report claimed that the Obama administration is still trying to decide whether the time is right to put the screws on Israel once more.
On the one hand, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told the Journal that Arab leaders are clamoring for a new US initiative to force Israel to make new concessions. Joining this supposed clamor are the administration-allied pro-Palestinian lobby J-Street, and the administration-allied New York Times.
On the other hand, the Netanyahu government and the US Congress are calling for a US aid cut-off to the Palestinian Authority. With Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization now partnering with Fatah in governing the PA, it is illegal for the US government to continue to have anything to do with the PA. Both the Netanyahu government and senior members of the House and Senate are arguing forcefully that there is no way for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians now and that the US must abandon its efforts to force the sides to sign an agreement.
The Israeli and Congressional arguments are certainly compelling. But the signals emanating from the White House and its allied media indicate that Obama is ready to plough forward in spite of them. With the new international security credibility he earned by overseeing the successful assassination of Osama Bin Laden, Obama apparently believes that he can withstand Congressional pressure and make the case for demanding that Israel surrender Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to Hamas and its partners in Fatah.
The signals that Obama is setting his sights on coercing Israel into agreeing to surrender its capital and heartland to Hamas and its partners in Fatah came in three forms this week. First, administration officials are trying to lower the bar that Hamas needs to pass in order to be considered a legitimate political force.
After Fatah and Hamas signed their first unity deal in March 2007, the US and its colleagues in the so-called Middle East Quartet – Russia, the EU and the UN – set three conditions that Hamas needed to meet in order to be accepted by them as legitimate. It needed to recognize Israel’s right to exist, agree to respect existing agreements with Israel and renounce terrorism.
These are not difficult conditions. Fatah is perceived as having met them even though it is still a terrorist organization and its leaders refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist and refuse to abide by any of the major commitments they took upon themselves in precious agreements with Israel. Hamas could easily follow Fatah’s lead.
But Hamas refuses. So speaking to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius two weeks ago, administration officials lowered the bar. They said Hamas had made major concessions to Fatah in the agreement because it agreed to accept provisions of the 2009 unity deal drafted by the Mubarak government that it rejected two year ago and because Hamas agreed that the unity government will be manned by “technocrats” rather than terrorists.
Even if these contentions are true, they are completely ridiculous. In point of fact, all the 2009 agreement says is that Hamas will refrain from demanding to join the US-trained and funded Fatah army in Judea and Samaria. As for the “technocratic” government, who does the Obama administration think will control these “technocrats”?
And as to the truth of these contentions, in an interview last week with the New York Times, Hamas terror-master Khaled Mashal denied that he had agreed to the terms of the 2009 agreement. Indeed, he said that Fatah agreed to add annexes to the agreement reflecting Hamas’s positions.
The second pitch the administration and its friends have adopted ahead of Obama’s address next week is that Hamas has become more moderate or may become more moderate. Robert Malley, who in the past advised Obama’s presidential campaign made this argument last week in an op-ed in the Washington Post. Malley claimed that by joining the government, Hamas will be more moved by US pressure. A New York Times editorial last Saturday argued that Hamas may have moderated, and even if it hasn’t, “Washington needs to press Mr. Netanyahu back to the peace table.”
Adding their voices to the din, Middle Eastern leaders like Amr Mussa, the frontrunner to serve as Egypt’s next president and Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan have given interviews to the US media this week in which they denied that Hamas is even a terrorist organization.
Here it is important to note that none of the administration’s statements about the Hamas-Fatah deal and none of the media coverage related to it have included any mention of the fact that has deliberately murders entire families and targets children specifically. No one mentions last month’s Hamas guided rocket attack which deliberately targeted an Israeli school bus. Hamas murdered 16-year-old Daniel Viflic in that attack. No one has mentioned the cafe massacres, the bus bombings, the university campus massacres, the breaking into homes massacres, the Passover seder massacres Hamas has carried out and bragged about in recent years. No one has mentioned that when seen as a portion of the population, Hamas has killed far more Israelis than al Qaida has killed Americans.
The final pitch the administration and its surrogates are making is that the deal needs to be seen as part of the overall regional shift towards popular rule. This pitch too is difficult to make. After all, the first casualty of the Arab world’s shift towards popular rule is the 30-year old Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Now that Egypt’s citizens have gotten rid of US-ally Hosni Mubarak, they have committed themselves to getting rid of the peace he upheld with Israel throughout his long reign.
Again, despite the difficulties, the Obama administration is clearly willing to make the case. Regarding Egypt, they argue that the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power is a good. This was the point of Obama’s Passover and Israel Independence Day messages.
As for the regional shift, the fact that Obama reportedly intends to place the so-called Palestinian-Israeli peace process into the regional context signals that he sees potential for an agreement between Israel and Syria as well. His advisors telegraphed this view to Ignatius. Obama’s advisors made the unlikely argument that if Syrian leader Bashar Assad survives the popular demonstrations calling for his overthrow, he will feel compelled to distance his regime from Iran because his Sunni-majority population has been critical of his alliance with the Shiite mullocracy.
This argument is unlikely given that the same officials recognize that if Assad survives, his will owe his regime’s survival to Iran. As they reminded Ignatius, US intelligence officials reported last month that Iran has “secretly supplied Assad with tear gas, anti-riot gear and other tools of suppression.”
What is perhaps most remarkable about Obama’s apparent plan to use the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as an excuse for a new round of diplomatic warfare against Israel is how poorly coordinated his steps have been with the PLO-Fatah. Abbas and his predecessor Yassir Arafat always viewed the US obsession with getting the Arabs and Israel to sign peace treaties as a strategic asset. Anytime they wanted to weaken Israel, they just needed to sound the fake peace drum loudly enough to get the White House’s attention. US presidents looking for the opportunity to “make history” were always ready to take their bait.
Unlike his predecessors, Obama’s interest in the Palestinians is not opportunistic. He is a true believer. And because of his deep-seated commitment to the Palestinians, his policies are even more radically anti-Israel than the PLO-Fatah’s. It was Obama, not Abbas who demanded that Jews be barred from building anything in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. It is the Obama administration, not the PLO-Fatah that is leading the charge to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood.
Like his belated move to demand a permanent abrogation of Jewish property rights in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Abbas arguably embraced Hamas because Obama left him no choice. He has no interest in making peace with Israel, so the only thing he can do under the circumstances Obama has created is embrace Hamas. He can’t be less pro-Islamic than the US President.
All of this brings us to Netanyahu and his trip to Washington next week. Obviously Obama’s decision to upstage the premier with his new outreach-to-the-Arab-world speech will make Netanyahu’s visit more challenging than it was already going to be.
Obama is clearly betting that by moving first, he will be able to coerce Netanyahu to make still more concessions of land and principles. Certainly, Netanyahu’s earlier decisions to cave to Obama’s pressure with his acceptance of Palestinian statehood and his subsequent acceptance of a Jewish building freeze give Obama good reason to believe he can back Netanyahu into a corner. Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s hysterical warnings about a diplomatic “tsunami” at the UN in September if Israel fails to capitulate to Obama today no doubt add to Obama’s sense that he can expect Netanyahu to dance to his drums, no matter how hostile the beat.
But Netanyahu doesn’t have to give in. He can stick to his guns and defend the country. He can continue on the correct path he has forged of repeating the truth about Hamas. He can warn about the growing threat of Egypt. He can describe the Iranian-supported butchery Assad is carrying out against his own people and note that a regime that murders its own will not make peace with the Jewish state. And he can point out the fact that as a capitalist, liberal democracy which protects the lives and property of its citizens, Israel is the only stable country in the region and the US’s only reliable regional ally.
True, if Netanyahu does these things, he will not win himself any friends in the White House. But he never had a chance of winning Obama and his advisors over anyway. He will empower Israel’s allies in Congress though. And more importantly, whether he is loved or hated in Washington, if Netanyahu does these things, he will be able to return home to Jerusalem with the sure knowledge that he earned his salary this month.
David:
If you are serious I’d strongly suggest that you visit for a month, check-out the job market for yourself and rules for buying an apt. I do not suggest buying a house unless you have a significant down-payment.
Isael is one of the greatest countries in the world, but it is expensive.
Last but not least… Zionsake said it best. I just wonder why the New Jewish Congress and the Sandhredrin don’t follow the lead of some true Israeli Patriots and
SPEAK UP. They should be preparing the clarion call for us who sit OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, to make our move to GO IN AND INHABIT THE LAND.
From the Twin Towers, to the Mississippi floods, from Grand Larceny by Powers in broad daylight, from deadly tornadoes… I’m just watching for an Ice storm in the South.. and that will do it for me. Fire..Water..Wind.. Ice?
Israel is the land of the Bible and what the Bible says is going to happen, will happen.
There will be war and Israel will take back all the land in the British Mandate for a Jewish state – and more; north, east (of the Jordan) and south (the Sinai up to the Nile River). This will happen in the wars of Isaiah 17-19.
In addition Islam will be discredited in the ME, resulting in the transfer of the Muslims’ Jihad to the West and other nations. (Jews, start packing and make your wealth transferable to Israel.)
To Michael Wiener: It’s not the British crown, it’s the Martians! (Equally plausible, and equally nuts.)
Narvey
Would you rather that we go to war with the major oil producing Arab nations?. Where would that get us? Were has it gotton us in Iraq, Afghanistan.
I/d rather not express what I think of your ideas.
Appeasement has long been the American and EU governments’ policy vis a vis the oil producing Arab nations and the Muslim world. Obama simply has taken that appeasement policy to a new and more dangerous level that is close to the EU level.
We have seen what these appeasement policies have wrought in the EU as regards their relations with many in their own Muslim communities. What is being wrought there is what Bat Ye’or described as the process the EU is engaged in that will soon lead to it being fairly characterized as Eurabia.
Israeli governments too have made appeasement one of the cornerstones of Israel’s overarching policy vis a vis American governments and world opinion that have been shaped by either anti-semitic/anti-Israel nations, mostly being the Arab oil producing and Muslim world and other nations that seek to appease them for the same reasons American has sought to appease these anti-semitic/anti-Israel nations.
Appeasement of the Arab/Muslim world might work for short term gains, but it has not worked in the long run as the Arab/Muslim world still finds reason to mistrust and hate the West and not just Israel.
It would be a refreshing change if Israel told America and the world, the only appeasement policy Israel would hereafter follow is one that puts Israeli interests first and is in furtherance of Israeli interests.
One way to do that is to no longer bow to Obama and world pressure that undermines Israel’s interests and make that clear by both word and deed.
Obama although he bears no resemblance to the Nazis in his overt behavior and methods clearly desires to eradicate Israel as a Jewish state and more importantly wants to deprive the Jewish people of a secure sanctuary, should another Hitler-like leader of a world power appear . This is clearly consistent with Obama’s 20 year membership in a “church” whose “minister” is a vile antisemite. It is also clearly consistent with other behaviors the evil Obama displayed but was downplayed or hidden by his propaganda department aka the mainstream media. I refer to his close friendship with Fakestinian “scholars” as well as his relationship with the most vile antisemitic in the USA Louis Farrakahn. Although, the mainstream media has done a good job hiding Obama’s association with Farrakahn, the totally incompetent lazy moron would not have been elected to the seat representing the district in Chicago where the vile piece of manure Farrakahn resides without Farrakahn’s OK. Although studies have shown Ashkenazi Jews have by far the highest mean IQ, thousands of years of terrible mistreatment has clearly resulted severe psychological damage and disturbance in many Jews. What else could logically explain how 80% of Jews voted for someone whose association with prominent Jew haters was no secret. I predict Obama will receive in 2012 only slightly less than the 80% of Jewish vote he received in 2008.
Nice speech Yamit! And really, how can the Muslim-nazis or their liberal apologists complain? After all Muslim-nazis have 50 or more Islamofascist states — all devoted to the repression and persecution of anyone non-Muslim. If they can tolerate 50 of these states why not one Jewish state?
It’s too bad the loyalty oath never made it through the Knesset, although realistically, I imagine people of a certain faith in Israel would be all too willing to lie as they take such an oath — because their most holy and perfect prophet encouraged them to do so.
B”sd
A Voice from Hebron by Gary M. Cooperberg
The Speech Netanyahu will Never Give
Ladies and gentlemen of the United States Congress, I stand before you today in sincere humility to apologize for the failure of the leadership of my country, since our miraculous rebirth, to honestly address our obligations to all of Mankind. It is my sincere hope to undo decades of misdirection and steer my country back to the path it was meant to travel.
The United States of America should understand the role of Israel in our world better than most countries. For the United States was founded upon Biblical principles in an attempt to emulate the role that Israel is destined to play. The founding principles of the United States are far more than freedom and democracy. They were based upon the recognition of the Creator of the Universe as the supreme source of true morality. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that the rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were endowed by our Creator, not by Congress. It is this concept, more than any other, which connects our two countries with such a strong bond.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States Congress, I address you, your constituents, and the entire world today to declare what the founders of the reborn Jewish State should have declared at the very outset of our return home. The reborn State of Israel is the beginning of fulfillment of Biblical prophesy which is designed to bring true peace to all of Mankind. Peace will never result from violating Biblical Commandments, rather by observing them. We have never sought war, yet we have been constantly under attack by those who would destroy us if they could. Rather than destroy those who seek our destruction, which is a Biblical obligation, we have tried to negotiate peace with them. Recent history has proven that this was a disastrous mistake. We have no right to negotiate even with peaceful attempts to part us from our homeland. . . how much less to even consider negotiating with those to still seek our destruction?
Yes, there are many Arabs living in Israel today. Most enjoy citizenship in our state and some even serve in our Knesset. While many are decent, hard working individuals, they are caught up in a web of confusion and delusion which decades of Jewish governments have played a large part in creating. Islam cannot accept any foreign sovereignty in what it considers to be Islamic land. I daresay that Islam today seeks world domination and considers all of the world as its land. This is not a threat limited to the Jewish State alone. What we in Israel have apparently forgotten is the fact that the Land of Israel has been given to the people of Israel by the G-d of Israel as an eternal possession. It is not our right to sell, give, or negotiate that Divine obligation.
The fiction of “palestine” was invented to portray the Islamic Goliath as if it were an Arab David. It is an outrageous but very successful piece of propaganda which has led to the acceptance of the preposterous allegation that a band of murderous Arab thieves from an assortment of legitimate Arab countries has a right to create a new Arab sovereignty upon Jewish soil. I have come here today to put an end to this fabrication. As Prime Minister of the Jewish State I hereby declare that we will never agree to any Arab sovereignty upon Jewish Soil. I also declare that the term Israeli Arab is an oxymoron which will be corrected immediately. From this day on citizenship in the Jewish State will be limited to Jews. Foreigners who wish to live here in peace with us are welcome as resident aliens. Palestine is a non entity which seeks to destroy the Jewish State and thus cannot be tolerated. Any individual who considers his identity to be “palestinian” is a declared enemy of the Jewish State and will be expelled. All lands presently under Israeli control are to be immediately incorporated into the Jewish State. The concept of an illegal Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel is also an oxymoron and is no longer accepted. There will be a mandatory death sentence to any terrorist who even seeks to harm a Jew.
The Jewish State has always held out its hand for peace. We will continue to do so. But we will immediately cease to accept as an axiom that we must treat the enemies in our midst as peace partners. No more will infants be murdered in their beds. No more will buses and restaurants be objects of suicide murderers. No more will our citizens be stoned and shot as they drive to and from work. This country has endured for decades what no other country in the world would have tolerated for a day. I hereby declare that Israel is the undividable homeland of the Jewish People. We hold out our hand in peace to all peace loving nations. We have always sought to help our neighbors and will continue to do so, but we will not tolerate threats to our security.
As such I hereby declare that the so called “palestinian” entity is an enemy of the Jewish State and will not be tolerated. One does not negotiate anything with enemies. One destroys enemies. The IDF is going to take back Gaza and drive out its enemies. Those who seek our destruction will themselves be destroyed. We do not slit the throats of infants in their beds. But we will not hesitate to bomb enemy installations even if protected by human shields. It is immoral to permit our enemies to attack our civilian population because they choose to fire upon us from mosques and schools.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Israel always has and always will pursue genuine peace with all of our neighbors. But we will no longer accept the role of punching bag of the world. Either accept our hand in peace or accept the Jewish fist in your face. As Prime Minister of Israel I turn to you, the American People, in the sincere hope that you will not join with the majority of nations which seek to destroy the Jewish State. You are a unique nation whose empathy with Biblical destiny should always see you standing together with us. It is the Living G-d of Israel which unites us. It is only with His help that nations exist. As His Chosen People we can never be destroyed. The world will discover this when they try to destroy us. I am afraid to say that it appears that this will be the only way that the world will come to recognize and understand that we all have but One Creator whom we are all destined to serve.
Thank you and G-d Bless America.
Bibi should simply state in his speech to Congress: “There will be no rewarding territory or statehood to islamic terrorists bent on another Jewish genocide. I declare the farcical “peace” process to be dead. All it ever was, was part of a phased plan for the obliteration of Israel. The only coexistence islam will ever accept is our complete submission and slavery to them”.
Obama’s actions make sense given his hostility towards Israel. He needs to pre-empt Netanyahu who will be here soon. He also needs to move fast before the inquiry over his eligibility begins to weaken his political power. He is also setting the stage for the UN this fall to justify more action against Israel.
He must also move fast before the U.S. economy suffers more upheavals and distracts from his agenda on Israel. Turmoil in the Arab world will also distract from his main focus on Israel. For a multitude of reasons Obama sees his window of opportunity to now force his will on Israel.
This is all part of a pattern of western betrayals that are forcing Israel to grow stronger and become more independent of America and the west in order to survive.
But FM Lieberman just said the other day, that Israel will negotiate with the PA, without any preconditions. Was this a Freudian slip? Or do all these leaders just assume we are idiots?
I believe I’m right in there with Yamit, in wishing every Israeli MK would get raptured immediately (Hal Lindsey, where are you when we need you? We WANT to be “left behind”). Whenever I hear their names, I try to conjure up the most dignified picture possible: Are they like Neville Chamberlain? No, Neville would have learned his lesson years ago. The Vichy French? No, they were too patriotic: They tried to save a remnant of France; the Israeli leaders are prepared to sell their country off the map. The Three Stooges? No, the Stooges had too much common sense: They were clowns, but they were SUCCESSFUL clowns. This leaders of Israel are chronic losers, seeking out new opportunities to lose more. How about Gomez, of “The Adams Family”? He’s close… I’ll think about it.
I believe Israel’s most sensible answer to Obama’s ambushes is short and sweet: Openly test a nuclear warhead, delivered by satellite; and announce to the world that Israel will wipe out any enemy that threatens them. No negotiations; end of story. Will they do that? I don’t think so; because if they did, they might frighten the world to its senses; but I don’t think God wants the world to be sensible: I believe He has judged them, and wants to destroy them.
Godsfinger to the World:
“I expect you to die!”
It’s poetic. Gruesome, but poetic. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving, ungodly world. They want it to happen; they really do. It’s sport to them, because this world has lost its mind.
Pamela Geller wasn’t wrong in her assertion that the ousting of Mubarak was meant to ultimately put pressure on Israel; that’s exactly why Obama was so supportive of protests in Egypt but remained, and continues to remain, relatively silent on human rights abuses by the Syrian and Iranian governments.