After Two Years, Just Why Should Israel Trust Obama?

Evelyn Gordon writes that Obama’s Repudiation of Promises to Israel Comes Back to Haunt Him, noting along the way the various ways that Obama has let Israel down in the course of the past 2 years.

I've taken the liberty of taking what she wrote and making a dotted list of how Obama has let down his ally:

• Denied the existence of Bush's oral pledge that Israel could continue building in the settlement blocs
• Never challenged PA incitement
• Advocated the indefensible pre-1967 borders, including in East Jerusalem
• Bullied Israel into halting construction in East Jerusalem--even in huge Jewish neighborhoods that will clearly remain Israeli under any deal
• Has not publicly demanded that the PA recognize Israel as a Jewish state
• He has not publicly said the refugees can’t be resettled in Israel
• Condemned Israel’s enforcement of an arms blockade on Hamas-run Gaza,
• Bullied Israel into accepting a UN probe of its raid on a blockade-busting flotilla
• Imposed unprecedented restrictions on Israel’s purchase of F-35 fighters

The issue is not that Obama has not come through on all the issues--though that would be nice. The point is that he has consistently failed on all of them.

Gordon believes that not only Obama's duplicity regarding Bush's oral pledge, but also his consistent failure to come across as a friend of Israel, has made Netanyahu doubtful of Obama's intent and reliability--even in the face of some of his more intriguing offers:

Obama’s offer reportedly includes the following (see here and here, for instance): support for Israel’s demand that any Israeli-Palestinian deal include a long-term Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley; a Security Council veto of any anti-Israel resolution submitted in the coming year; additional military aid; advanced weaponry; stringent measures to halt arms smuggling; and a pledge not to seek another extension when this one expires.

Israel needs all of the above, and Obama has hitherto often failed to provide them. Thus the offer’s benefits would seem to far outweigh the damage of extending the freeze for two months.

The fact that Netanyahu has not jumped at such offers may be because--as Netanyahu claims--his cabinet will not let him. The other possibility, as Gordon notes may be more simple and "undiplomatic".

That would be the same reason that Arab countries are now scurrying to develop their own nuclear programs in response to Iran.

Technorati Tag: Obama and Mideast Peace Talks.