69 million page views

This unnecessary dispute is another example of Obama's inexperience, ignorance, and poor judgement

Reader comment on item: The Worst Crisis in 35 Years?

Submitted by Ken Besig Israel (Israel), Mar 17, 2010 at 15:17

Most Israelis are amazed at just how hysterically the Obama administration has reacted to this Israeli government announcement that building would be taking place in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. This is because just a couple of months ago, the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had stated how happy the American government was that Israel had declared a building moratorium in the West Bank exclusive of Jerusalem. But suddenly the Americans were outraged by an announcement of renewed Israeli building in a Jewish Jerusalem neighborhood established in 1995.. Thus this American outrage does seem very inconsistent, but was probably due more to the fact that it deprived the visiting American Vice President of the opportunity to announce the start of something called "proximity" talks between Israel and the Palestinians. These talks were supposed to be talks about starting negotiations again, or something to that effect and the Israeli announcement and the withering American reaction to it gave the Palestinians another excuse to once again reject direct talks with Israel.

Of course the whole affair left Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu appearing heroic, courageous, and standing tall in the face of American denunciations and threats while confirming the worst Israeli fears and beliefs that the Obama adminstration is entirely hostile to Israel and the Jewish community while at the same doing it's best to curry favor with the Arab world and the Palestinians. (As an aside,many Israelis were already angered by the fact that Obama sent his Vice President to make this visit instead of coming himself, especially since Obama has found time to travel to both Saudi Arabia and Egypt while avoiding coming to Israel. Obama has also made it a point to avoid even meeting publicly in Washington with Prime Minister Netanyahu preferring to sneak the Prime Minister into the White House by the back door and failing to hold a joint press conference after the meeting.)

The American display of real anger towards Israel over this issue may well have had the unintended consequence of entirely derailing the chance of Israeli Palestinian negotiations beginning any time in the next couple of years. The Palestinians had already demanded that Israel stop ALL building in Jerusalem and the West Bank following the first Obama demands, now of course, they feel even more empowered to stand their ground.

The Obama administration has exhibited extremely poor judgement in this affair, as well as a remarkable lack of diplomatic self control regarding Israel, one of America's strongest and most reliable allies. Worse, Obama has shown that even his political and diplomatic experts and advisors are dangerously ignorant regarding internal Israeli politics, the reality of Palestinian intransigence and rejectionism regarding making even a gesture towards peace with Israel, and the fact that their unbalanced attacks on Israel caused an immediate outbreak of Palestinian violence which could easily have deteriorated into a shooting battle.

This is the second time in six months that Obama has badly miscalculated events in the Middle East, and that is two times too many. Mr. Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, and David Axelrod have used up their free passes, the next time they screw up things could go very very wrong here for all of us.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment      Next Comment >>

Reader comments (48) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
RESTORE THE BALFOUR & RECONSIDER THE REGIMES CREATED BY BRITAIN. [431 words]IamJosephApr 23, 2010 04:21171598
Obama's Goals [52 words]Glenda LoughMar 27, 2010 17:22170691
Recalling Israel's Ambassador To the U.S. [56 words]MikeMar 21, 2010 22:46170489
Obama's War on Israel [229 words]Martin GrayMar 20, 2010 11:10170439
1Martin- The Jews you named and the confusion around it [258 words]saraMar 20, 2010 18:22170439
Be Careful, Be Very Careful [85 words]BlackspeareMar 18, 2010 16:56170376
It is Obama Policy... [123 words]Chet LimbrightMar 18, 2010 13:51170372
Zechariah 2 [146 words]UgriMar 19, 2010 03:53170372
Zechariah 14 -- and Finnish nukes?? [463 words]Michael SOct 26, 2015 04:39170372
Going nuclear? [152 words]UgriNov 1, 2015 01:45170372
Boom time? [495 words]Michael SNov 4, 2015 04:07170372
Israel is strong enough to make it! [15 words]Daphne DolstraMar 18, 2010 11:50170366
barack Hussuin Obama [37 words]Michael LummerMar 20, 2010 10:20170366
Once the U.S. Starts Down This Path [90 words]Martin GrayMar 18, 2010 11:29170363
Obama is a farce [63 words]Barbara GoldsteinMar 18, 2010 08:54170356
obama AIPAC speech 2008 [32 words]kevin fieldMar 18, 2010 05:43170351
1Because the press is in OB's pocket, [39 words]Jason CMar 22, 2010 12:43170351
I hear you... [90 words]RobinMar 26, 2010 21:40170351
It's NOT about bringing down Netanyahu's government, it's about changing the 'narrative'. [424 words]Geoffrey BritainMar 18, 2010 02:21170340
Thank you Dr. Pipes!!! [108 words]kmanMar 17, 2010 23:54170333
worsening situation [102 words]TedMar 17, 2010 21:20170329
Israel [118 words]2outspokenMar 17, 2010 20:49170328
This is not an 'ageless conflict' [238 words]saraMar 18, 2010 19:24170328
Response to "This is not and ageless battle" [86 words]2outspokenMar 18, 2010 21:32170328
Rahm Emmanuel???? [250 words]John W. McGinleyMar 17, 2010 20:10170322
governments decieved [269 words]rodney allsworthMar 17, 2010 20:07170321
Just a little spat [118 words]TinFoilMar 17, 2010 19:40170319
The Socialists are responsible [124 words]ChetMar 17, 2010 17:42170313
A bad situation all around [116 words]Carl SesarMar 17, 2010 16:39170311
THREE CHEERS!!! [10 words]Jeanne WinemillerMar 17, 2010 16:25170310
Ditto! [46 words]Abu NudnikMar 17, 2010 19:41170310
Ageless yes...back to the garden of eden [106 words]Art HobbaMar 20, 2010 17:34170310
Jerusalem construction [141 words]Harry PomeranzMar 17, 2010 16:05170308
building in Jerusalem [14 words]SWBMar 17, 2010 15:24170306
Be Aware of the the Petraeus Factor [40 words]Leonard MarkowitzMar 17, 2010 15:22170305
Petraeus and Israel [58 words]DavodMar 18, 2010 07:06170305
This unnecessary dispute is another example of Obama's inexperience, ignorance, and poor judgement [534 words]Ken Besig IsraelMar 17, 2010 15:17170303
Please do not use various labels that apply to Liberals to address "American population" [150 words]kmanMar 18, 2010 00:12170303
The worst crisis in 35 years [44 words]Jaime EisenMar 18, 2010 01:00170303
Obama's behavior is intentional. [82 words]Geoffrey BritainMar 21, 2010 19:26170303
The 1600 units are in North Jerusalem [8 words]DavodMar 17, 2010 15:12170302
U,S / ISRAEL CRISIS [152 words]JACQUES HADIDAMar 17, 2010 14:54170301
The shrill voices of stupidity. [281 words]batya daganMar 17, 2010 14:48170299
Palestinian is a Fake Nationality [204 words]HistoryscoperMar 17, 2010 14:37170298
Sorry, but I am tired of hearing that "Wiser heads will insist that White House amateurs end this tempest ,"etc. [116 words]Mark GoldMar 17, 2010 14:36170297
incredible [50 words]noel hershfieldMar 21, 2010 20:49170297
Why do we hit Israel, our only real ally in the entire Middle East ? ....Mar 2010 [52 words]Phil GreendMar 17, 2010 14:16170296
spot on [12 words]Richard SeigelMar 17, 2010 14:14170295

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)