Even though Barack Obama had appeared before several Jewish groups to assure them of his unwvering support for Israel, Gallup polls showed that John McCain was being supported by 35% of American Jews, a high percentage for a group that traditionally supports Democratic candidates. So, the morning after he secured the Democratic nomination, Senator Obama appeared before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and proclaimed that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
Obama's astonishingly strong statement about the future of Jerusalem was met with thundering applause. Instead of applauding him, the AIPAC members should have shouted "Hoiyah, Hoiyah, Hoiyah, Hoiyah." (For a definition of Hoiyah, read my blog of 2-24-08 by the same title.) Why? As soon as Obama's proclamation became public, the Arabs unleashed a howling storm of protests, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declaring, "We will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as its capital."
Within hours, Obama waffled and backpedalled on his "undivided" Jerusalem proclamation. Instead of being steadfast, he followed up his AIPAC speech by saying, "Well, obviously it’s going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues." Then he told CNN that, while he still supported an indivisible Israeli Jerusalem, "My belief is that, as a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute." So much for Jerusaalem "must remain undivided."
When are American Jews going to wake up and recognize Obama's seductive rhetoric as nothing more than a phony deceptive ploy to gain their support? As I've written a number of times before, all one needs to do is to look at Obama's team of foreign policy advisers. Zbigniew Brzezinski (President Carter's former National Security Adviser), Anthony Lake, Robert O'Malley, Susan Rice and Samantha Power have all expressed strong pro-Palestinian positions and have taken positions that are clearly hostile to Israel's security needs.
John McCain, on the other hand, will be a much more reliable friend of Israel. Reacting to Obama's speech before AIPAC, McCain said, "We should move our embassy to Jerusalem before anything else happens." That statement was a veiled reference to the shameful policies of the U.S. and most other countries in kowtowing to Arab pressure by keeping their embassies in Tel Aviv rather than moving them to Jerusalem, Israel's capital since its birth.
Unfortunately, Israelis are themselves divided over the eventual status of Jerusalem. While the Jewish state's right wing insists on an undivided Israeli Jerusalem, the left wing, most notably the Peace (At Any Price) Now movement, wants to give Arab east Jerusalem to the Palestinians for the sake of peace. (The Lefties also want to give up the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank that are vital to Israel's security.) Peace at any price would bankrupt Israel's security assets. A Palestinian capital in Arab east Jerusalem would be a dagger thrust in the heart of tiny Israel.
Michael Medved, a conservative columnist who has a brother living in Israel, responded to Obama's waffling on Jerusalem by writing that "it’s worth noting that the United States almost always tries to influence Israel toward weaker positions, not stronger ones -- urging endless and painful unilateral concessions, with only meaningless Palestinian promises in return." Medved describes Obama's "rhetorical habits" as "slippery and deceptive."
If Obama becomes President and relies on his foreign policy advisers, as he most surely will, Israel will find itself pressured even harder to make suicidal concessions to the Palestinians who have sworn to eradicate the Jewish state. AMERICA'S JEWS BEWARE: Obama's seductive declarations of support for Israel are nothing more than pure political phony baloney!
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