Fox News analyst Charles Krauthammer wisely summed up all that President Barack Obama was saying during his visit to Israel last week. "It''s all rhetoric," he assessed. Krauthammer is Jewish, so he can understand things from a Jewish Israeli perspective. He obviously understands reality. And his perspective is also our Christian perspective.
Obama was supposedly trying to mend relations with Israel during this belated visit, following four years of snubbing, demeaning, opposing and trying to command Israel to act according to his demands. Even on this trip, he spoke as if he thought he was president of Israel, as well as of the United States, as if Israel is supposed to do nothing without his approval.
Upon his arrival Obama stated, "The United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend." How are Israel''s leaders and people supposed to take him seriously after all he has said and done over the past four years? After trying to sound so supportive of Israel he showed his other face immediately thereafter when he told the Palestinian Arabs that "they deserve an end to the occupation" and that "they deserve an independent state of their own." He used the word, "occupation" which reveals his grossly biased, anti-Israel distortion of the truth.
Obama also declared, "It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own," and he added, "Palestinians have a right to be free people in their own land."
Being interpreted, that means, of course, that Israel is responsible for illicit subjugation of the Palestinian Arabs and for preventing them from enjoying wonderful freedoms they would supposedly not be denied if Israel would only allow them their independence and self-rule.
You have to wonder where Obama has been living for the past four decades or whether he has been blind, deaf and dumb. If he had any understanding of reality, he would certainly realize that the Israelis have offered the Palestinians "land for peace" and for their own state three times and each time the offers have been bluntly refused. In addition, the Gaza territory was given outright to the Palestinians, even moving all the thousands of Jewish people out of their homes and villages and businesses, making the area completely Jew-free. But instead of the flaunted "land for peace" expectations, Israel got a non-ending deluge of destructive explosive rockets and missiles.
Obama''s comments show that he ignores the truth that the Arabs already have a Palestinian state, and it is called Jordan. That happens to be where most of the Arabs now residing in Israel came from. Then too, if he or anyone will simply take a glance at a map of the Middle East, they will see that the Arabs already have twenty-some countries and more than one hundred times the land area that the one lone Jewish state claims. Yet Obama wants Israel to give half of their tiny Jewish country to the Arabs. Going back to Obama''s arrival, he was welcomed with positive affection by Israel''s current liberal President Shimon Peres, who has been a long-time leader of Israel''s liberal Labor Party. Peres commented, "The State of Israel has no greater friend than the United States." However, seeming to acknowledge that all is not ideal in relations between Israel and the U.S. he added, "No one should let skepticism own the day." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu diplomatically managed some handshakes and smiles in welcoming Obama, but he did have to challenge one thing the president said. In a joint press conference Obama declared that "there was not a lot of daylight" between the two leaders'' views on Iran. They did agree that Iran should be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons but Netanyahu had to respond that Israel has the right to take military action alone, if they must in order to protect their citizens and their land. He added that, "Israel has the right to defend itself, and will never give up that right, even for our best friend."
So Krauthammer was right. Everything positive that Obama said was "just rhetoric." His visit has changed nothing in Israel''s relations with the United States.