U.S. is Israel’s friend, but what about Barack Obama?

 By Steve Kramer 

ALFE MENASHE, Israel– There is no doubt that Israel’s best friend is America. Without American support in the United Nations Security Council, binding resolutions against Israel would be much easier to pass. Without American aid, Israel’s military strength would be diminished. Without the backing of American citizens and America-based businesses, perhaps Israel wouldn’t be nicknamed the “start-up” nation.

However, the American government does not always accord Israel the respect that one of its closest allies deserves. Some American presidents have been emotionally attached to Israel, while others have felt little warmth for the sole Jewish state. In both cases, administrations have been able to help or hurt Israel. I believe that the current administration is mostly hurting Israel, despite the perception of President Obama as Israel’s greatest friend.

The first thing that Obama’s adherents will point to in defense of the current administration is the very high level of military cooperation. I agree that cooperation is close and deep, but I believe that the two militaries are intertwined to an extent that is largely independent of the president.

The second point in favor of the current administration is the annual aid that America gives to Israel, which has not diminished under President Obama. In fact, Congress has added additional money for special missile projects shared by the two countries.

It’s true that America gives more aid annually to Israel than to any other country. But few people know that the aid is used almost entirely for purchasing military products manufactured in the United States. This is a huge benefit for American companies and their workers, who receive approximately $3 billion in revenue which otherwise could have gone to Israeli (or other) weapons suppliers. Regarding aid money not used for weapons, Israel has voluntarily cut the ratio (of non-military aid to military aid) from approximately 1:3 in 2000 to an unbelievable  1:200 in 2014!

A major benefit for America derived from giving military aid to Israel is competitive advantage. In 2013, America lost its supremacy as the world’s largest military supplier to Russia after a decade of America being #1. Israel is a rising power in military sales, ranking #8 in the world and remaining stable over the last several years, while American sales decreased 10% in 2013. So, America’s aid to Israel is not a gift without strings, because it reduces Israeli competition while allowing America to benefit from Israeli brainpower.

Below are just a few of the ways the Obama administration has hurt Israel and prolonged the conflict with the Palestinians; first, by Obama trashing United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which stipulated a “peaceful and accepted settlement” between Israel and the Arabs following Israel’s great defensive victory of 1967 (Six Day War).

As reported in The New York Times:

A day before the arrival in Washington of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [May 2011] of Israel, Mr. Obama declared that the prevailing borders [the 1949 Armistice Lines] before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war — adjusted to some degree to account for Israeli settlements in the West Bank — should be the basis of a deal. While the 1967 borders have long been viewed as the foundation for a peace agreement, Mr. Obama’s formula of land swaps to compensate for disputed territory created a new benchmark for a diplomatic solution. Mr. Obama’s statement represented a subtle, but significant shift, in American policy. And it thrust him back into the region’s most nettlesome dispute at a time when conditions would seem to make reaching a deal especially difficult.” [emphasis added]

UN Security Council Resolution 242 had been the basis for negotiations from 1967 until President Obama took office. That resolution called for secure and recognized borders for Israel, without basing those borders on the 1949 Armistice Lines. It was Obama who decided that peace would only come after a capitulation by the Israelis to the Arabs, ceding lands won in a defensive war and abrogating the binding Security Council resolution.

In one fell swoop, the Obama administration rewarded the Arabs for their aggression against Israel, hardened the positions of the Palestinians and sent them a message: they need not compromise with Israel because America would force Israel to give the Palestinians what they wanted regardless.

The Obama administration’s recent decision to recognize the agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist Hamas organization is another disappointment for Israel, which was instantly duplicated by the EU. One can expect increasing pressure to be put on Israel to continue negotiations with a government based on usurping Israel and establishing a State of Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. This is a reversal of the initial response to the union between the rival Palestinian factions: that the State Department didn’t expect Israel to negotiate with a group that demands Israel’s destruction.

Yet another maneuver against Israel, perhaps the worst, is the administration’s woeful peace negotiations with Iran, which reduces the sanctions against Iran and allows Iran to continue developing more efficient methods to enrich uranium and to deliver nuclear weapons payloads. Given the administration’s track record, does anyone, especially Iran, believe that the Obama administration would ever resort to force against Iran? In addition, the administration is cozying up to Iran to try to “save” Iraq! Unfortunately, there are no good guys to support there or in Syria, so why get in bed with Iran?

President Obama, during his first foreign policy speech in Cairo, 2009, famously said, “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect …” This apologetic approach has had dire consequences for the West, as the Arabs continue to annihilate each other and Arab refugees flood the Middle East and Europe. Israel is the region’s lone island of stability, prospering amid the turmoil. But unfortunately for Israel, it’s closest ally, America, seems intent on enabling the intransigence of the Palestinians, who are Israel’s enemies. One hopes that the next administration will be less apologetic and more aware of whom its friends are.

A caveat: President Obama is just doing what comes naturally, leaning on Israel’s “swinging door.” As many pundits have noted, the Israeli right wing continually reverses its platform and implements the left wing agenda, just as Prime Minister Netanyahu did in his 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, when he accepted the two-state solution with the Palestinians. One longs for an Israel leader of the old school, such as David Ben Gurion, who did not believe in land-for-peace and expanded Israel’s sovereignty despite brutal US and European pressure.
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Stephen Kramer is a freelance writer based in the town of Alfe Menashe in Samaria,  Israel. His works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com