There was Obama’s AIPAC speech where he supported an undivided Jerusalem, which liberal Jewish groups immediately printed on literally millions of pamphlets and sent to low-information Jewish voters looking for an excuse to vote Democratic. Then there was Obama’s immediate flip-flop when he came under “Palestinian pressure,” which for some reason didn’t get as much public attention.
But then there was the reversal of the reversal a few days later, where the campaign insisted that Obama would not interfere with Jerusalem, that “Israel has a legitimate claim on” the Old City, and that “no one should want or expect [Jerusalem] to be redivided:”
In an interview today with CNN’s Candy Crowley, Obama said of Jerusalem, “obviously, it’s going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations.” Of his feelings about dividing Jerusalem, Obama said: “As a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute. And I think that it is smart for us to — to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city.“…
The Obama campaign put a reporter in immediate contact with Rep. Robert Wexler… who told ABC News, “that is not backtracking.” “His position has been the same for the past 16 months,” Wexler said. “He believes Jerusalem should be an undivided city and must be the capital of a Jewish state of Israel. He has also said… that Jerusalem is of course a ‘final status’ issue,” meaning it would be one of the key and final points of negotiation for a Palestinian state. “And Sen. Obama as president would not dictate final status issues. He will permit the Palestinians and Israel to negotiate, and he would respect any conclusion they reach.”…
And in these answers to questions from the American Jewish Committee, Obama wrote that the U.S. “cannot dictate the terms of a final status agreement. We should support the parties as they negotiate these difficult issues, but they will have to reach agreements that they can live with. In general terms, clearly Israel must emerge in a final status agreement with secure borders. Jerusalem will remain Israel’s capital, and no one should want or expect it to be redivided.”
Obama’s new approach of counting East Jerusalem as a settlement is a break with previous administrations. It’s not that the US explicitly recognized Israel’s rights to an undivided capital, though Obama obviously promised as much during the campaign. It’s just that the status of the Old City – which had been cleansed of thousands of Jews by the Jordanians before Israel captured it and let them return – was never an issue. The State Department doesn’t even count those neighborhoods when they tabulate settlements. It’s just never been a thing before now. Obama just made it up.
Netanyahu, for his part, has had enough:
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, responding to the reports that Washington had asked Israel not to build 20 apartments in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem, near Mount Scopus and the National Police headquarters, said, “I would like to reemphasize that united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it cannot be challenged; this means – inter alia – that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city. “This has been the policy of all Israeli governments and I would like to say that it is indeed being implemented because in recent years hundreds of apartments in Jewish neighborhoods and in the western part of the city have been purchased by – or rented to – Arab residents and we did not interfere,” he said.
The original article had Netanyahu quite a bit more piqued, talking about how Obama had crossed a “red line” by denying Jewish sovereignty over its ancient capital.
There is no doubt US President-elect Barack Obama could work well with Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu… Congressman Robert Wexler, one of Obama’s most prominent early supporters in the Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post… Wexler said, “I know that Obama and Netanyahu have met on at least two occasions… I am confident that should he become the prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu would get along very well with Barack Obama, and the two of them would work in concert toward the achievement of mutual interests. I have no doubt about that.“
So while some people might be inclined to blame Wexler for intentionally lying about how Obama supports an undivided Jerusalem, this last quote suggests that it’s not his fault. He might just be a moron.
References:
* Obama Isn’t Anti-Israel Because… Umm… Err… Because He Just Isn’t OK? [MR]
* Obama caves under Palestinian pressure [Red State]
* Obama Camp Denies Backtracking on "Undivided" Jerusalem [Tapper]
* Netanyahu To Obama: Actually, We’re Going To Keep Letting Jews Build Homes In Jerusalem [MR]
* ‘Limits on settlement freeze being set’ [JPost]
* Report: Netanyahu Says Obama Has "Crossed a Red Line" When He Started Demanding Israel Cease Building in Jerusalem…… [Weasel Zippers]
Previously:
* State Dept. Banning Pro-Israel Obama Officials From Speaking Out
* Awesome: Obama Now Wrecking Israel’s Economy Too
* WND: Obama Pressured Israel To Declare Ceasefire
