What about George W? and Clinton, really?

Submitted by sara (United States), May 18, 2009 at 19:44

Reaching the final sentence of this piece I was surprised that the name of George W. Bush was not included in the most influencial and pro-Israel presidents ever; despite his two state and Annapolis bungles that were forced diplomacy. Bush should be included for his moving speech to the Israeli Knesset alone, for his help in shifting U.S. public empathy to Israel in common commiseration as victims of Islamic terror. Bush was a great friend to Israel, never mind whether it was only after 9/11 that he saw the light and identified so strongly with the Israelis.

Clinton on the other hand is in my opinion single handedly responsible for the tragedy that was the Oslo Accords, the triumphant return of Arafat into Ramallah after he had beem languishing in Algeria/Tunisia with no political future. Clinton forced the Israelis to agree to terms that caused the intifadas and changed forever the political and social landscapes in Israel. Arabs and Jews who had been friends and neighbors for decades have been in hostility ever since. As a child we used to drive from Jerusalem to Bethlehem or to Hebron for the great food markets. That is now a distant memory, taken away by the selfish political ambitions of one Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton should not be on any list of U.S presidents that George W is left off of.

All this of course is peripheral to the real pressing issue of Iran's threat to Israel's existence. Of course Obama will not support any act of self defense, preemptive or not. And Israel will act anyway and hopefully meet with success in this impossible task of destroying Iran's nukes effectively.

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