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Obama's Repudiation of Promises to Israel Comes Back to Haunt Him

(Commentary) Evelyn Gordon - In exchange for a two-month extension of the freeze on settlement construction, Barack Obama has offered Israel various mouth-watering goodies. Yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaning toward refusing. What gives? I suspect the real reason is too undiplomatic to state publicly: Obama, by his own actions, has shown he views presidential promises as made to be broken. Israel, after all, received its last presidential promise just six years ago, in exchange for leaving Gaza. In writing, George W. Bush said the Palestinian Authority must end incitement and terror, voiced support for Israel "as a Jewish state," vowed to "strengthen Israel's capability" to defend itself, and said any Israeli-Palestinian deal should leave Israel with the settlement blocs and "defensible borders." He also promised orally that Israel could continue building in the settlement blocs. But when Obama took office, he denied the oral pledge's very existence. And while Obama hasn't denied the written document's existence, he's nullified it de facto through his every word and action: he's never challenged PA incitement; he's advocated the indefensible pre-1967 borders, including in east Jerusalem (where he bullied Israel into halting construction even in huge Jewish neighborhoods that will clearly remain Israeli under any deal); and more. With enough domestic pressure, Obama would probably do everything in the latest offer anyway. But without it, Israelis fear he'll renege the moment he finds it convenient.
2010-10-01 09:29:01
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