Israeli Officials: Hey, It's Almost As If Obama's Trying To Detonate The US-Israeli Relationship
My first inclination was to go with something like "you know what's really weird? That the guy who smeared 'pro-Likud approaches to Israel' during his campaign would be having problems with a Likud Prime Minister." But whatever. This was so inevitable that during the election I was already trying to guess the actual headlines and ledes that would be used to describe the implosion of the US-Israeli alliance.
Just one quote from a post from last September, then I'll give you the blockquote from this morning's inevitable news:
Of course the Obama White House will degrade US-Israeli ties. That's what his foreign policy team thinks needs to be done to promote American interests. It will be a White House that changes US priorities. It will be friendlier with Hamas and friendlier with Syria and friendlier with radical Muslim countries and friendlier with Hezbollah - all at the expense of Israel. Following the personal declarations of Obama, it will obviously be friendlier with Iran. And it will be an administration institutionally predisposed to blame Israel for Middle East instability across the board.Of course that's how it will play out. That's what distinguishes liberal foreign policy from conservative foreign policy. Those are the policies that Obama is running on. Those are the policies that his advisers discuss at length in their academic work.
And so, almost as if Obama's statements as a candidate could have been used to predict his policies as President:
Senior officials in Jerusalem expressed concern recently over the sharp decline in the coordination between Israel and the United States on security and state affairs since President Barack Obama's entered the White House and especially since the formation of Israel's new government... This has caused several coordination "malfunctions" between the two states in the past two months, they said.The last incident was the statement of Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty... [Israel] heard it first from the media... The American policy shift toward Syria and opening direct talks with Damascus followed minimal coordination with Israel... [On] Dennis Ross' trip to the Gulf states a few days ago for talks on Iran... Ross did not pass through Israel on his way to the Gulf or back...
The new administration no longer seems to see Israel as a "special" or "extraordinary" state in the Middle East, with which the U.S. must maintain a different dialogue than with other states.
That's a little too generous. The new administration sees Israel as a particularly problematic state in the Middle East, responsible for the length and breadth of Middle East instability. This was their position before the election and it's been their positions since they got into office. So it's not exactly a shock that they're pressuring Israel while ineffectively sucking up to Syria.
The only question left is how this will end up being Israel's fault. If Israel attacks Iran, then it'll be that. The "Israeli self-defense will undermine Obama's diplomacy" meme has already been well-seeded by Gates and Biden, by Brzezinski, and - on the same day, almost as if there was a coordinated campaign - by the NYT and the Washington Post.
If Israel doesn't attack Iran, then it'll be either anti-Hamas efforts or Syria or Israel's nuclear deterrent. All three have already been fed to reporters as "sources of tension" by the Iran Lobby, part of their ongoing drip drip drip erosion of Israel's standing in DC.
It won't be settlements - too blase. The whole point is to give Netanyahu a demand that he can't possibly meet, so that his subsequent refusal can be used as a pretext for degrading ties.
References:
* Guy Who Smeared "Pro-Likud Approach To Israel": "US-Israeli Relationship Transcends Parties" [MR]
* Obama Campaign Demands Ban On Republican Jewish Group, Escalates Thuggish Intimidation [MR]
* Anti-Israel Activists To Anti-Israel Voters: Don't Worry, We Pretty Much Own Obama [MR]
* Palin Speech Now Online, Liberal Jewish Groups Reach New Heights Of Pro-Obama Denials, Fabrications, And Smears [MR]
* Jerusalem worried over breakdown of U.S.-Israel cooperation under Obama [Ha'aretz]
* New Palin Smear: She Supports Hamas (Plus: Obama's Anti-Israel FP Sensibility, Support From Hamas) [MR]
* Obama Foreign Policy Appointees: Israel To Blame For Mideast Instability, Sweeping Concessions Necessary [MR]
* White House: Arab States Will Tone Down Their "Israel Has To Commit Suicide" Demands. Arab States: No We Won't. [MR]
* Gates: Israeli Attack On Iran's Nukes Will Cause Iran To Pursue Nukes, Detonate US-Israeli Relations [MR]
* Brzezinski: Israeli Campaign Against Iran Will Detonate US-Israel Relations [MR]
* NYT: Israel Is Kind Of Undermining Obama's Diplomacy, Isn't It? [MR]
* WaPo: Israeli Voters Are Kind Of Undermining Obama's Diplomacy, Aren't They? [MR]
* Predictable Media Meme Congealing: Israeli Self-Defense Is Bad For Obama [MR]
* Israeli Politics Roundup - What Will Cause Netanyahu's First Blowup With Obama? [MR]
* No Kidding: Obama To Pressure Israel On Its Nuclear Deterrent [MR]
* The "Iran Lobby" Moves Into The White House [MR]
Previously:
* Memo To Democratic Jews: "US Engagement In The Peace Process" Is Bad For Israel, Barack Obama Edition
* Social Science Confirms: Sheer Stupidity Only Explanation For Democratic Jews (Plus: Joe The Plumber Agrees: "A Vote For Obama Is A Vote For The Death Of Israel")
* 70 Percent Of American Jews Ready To Say "We Didn't Know" When Obama Detonates US-Israel Alliance (Plus: They Most Definitely Know)
