If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to ask a fair-minded, balanced, sensible adviser what he could realistically do to win the confidence and approbation of U.S. President Barack Obama, the answer would have to be “nothing.”
Two examples prove the point.
In May, Netanyahu moved the Likud party considerably to the center in his speech to the opening of the summer session of the Knesset. In that speech he discussed relations with the Palestinians and called for a “long-term IDF presence along the Jordan River,” and said, “We agree that we must maintain the settlement blocs.” In other words, he was saying that the Israeli presence along the Jordan would be that of soldiers only, not settlers, and that it would in any event not be permanent; and he was saying that only the settlement blocs, not all settlements no matter how small and isolated, would remain with Israel.
The Obama administration’s reaction to these important statements was, well, nothing. Zero. It did not commend them or even acknowledge that they were important. It was so certain in its view of Netanyahu as a recalcitrant right-winger that it did not even pay attention to what he was saying.
The Obama administration’s reaction to these important statements was, well, nothing. Zero. It did not commend them or even acknowledge that they were important. It was so certain in its view of Netanyahu as a recalcitrant right-winger that it did not even pay attention to what he was saying.
This week, Netanyahu has started to move on the issue of “outposts,” small and unauthorized encampments in the West Bank. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon repeatedly promised former U.S. President George W. Bush that he would act to remove them -- and repeatedly failed (as did former Prime Mnister Ehud Olmert). At some political cost, Netanyahu plans now to act.
The Wall Street Journal explained it this way: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled he plans to dismantle some unauthorized Jewish dwellings in the West Bank, setting up potential clashes with extremist settlers and the hardliners in his government who back them. Such a move could mark the largest evacuation of settlers since the 2005 Gaza withdrawal, and could boost Netanyahu’s credibility among mainstream Israelis as well as abroad.”
Well, apparently not “abroad.” No sooner does Netanyahu take this courageous step than he is denounced by Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a private conversation that has now been revealed. According to press reports, Sarkozy told Obama, “Netanyahu, I can’t stand him. He’s a liar.” Obama did not object to the characterization, and responded: “You are sick of him, but I have to work with him every day.”
So we return to what our wise adviser might tell Netanyahu. In the very week that he moves on outposts -- something Sharon and Olmert completely failed to do -- he is called names by the French, and the insults are apparently accepted and approved by the Americans. The advice to Bibi would have to be: Forget it. Forget the possibility that Obama will ever treat you fairly. Forget the idea that he will give you a fair shake or pay attention to what you are actually doing.
If this were only a matter of personal relations between Obama and Netanyahu, it could be left at that. But this is far more consequential, for with this comment -- and especially as it was made in private and can be interpreted as his actual view -- Obama has joined the chorus of assaults on the Jewish state. The U.S. only has one president at a time and Israel only has one prime minister. To treat the prime minister of Israel in this way is disgraceful.
From “Pressure Points” by Elliott Abrams. Reprinted with permission from the Council on Foreign Relations.
