Obama And Israel: The Party's Over

Obama said yesterday that he is working on outreach to Muslims.

So do the math:

• Obama wants to improve relations with the Muslim world
• Today, Obama is in Indonesia--the world's largest Muslim country
• And, oh yeah, the midterm elections are over

You know what that means--
time for Obama to go back to criticizing Israel:

In response to a reporter’s question, the president stepped into an Israeli-Palestinian dispute over Jewish construction, criticizing Israel for its decision to advance the approval of 1,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem during a sensitive time in peace talks. The plight of Palestinians is a big issue in Indonesia, so much so that President Yudhoyono mentioned it in his opening remarks, saying he had told Mr. Obama that “we need a resolution on Palestine and Israel in a permanent sustainable manner.”

Of Israel’s settlement announcement, Mr. Obama said, “This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations, and I’m concerned that were not seeing each side make the extra effort involved to get a breakthrough.” He added, “Each of these incremental steps end up breaking trust.”

Yup, the old Obama is back.

Jonathan Tobin gives a quick overview of Obama's misjudgments that got us to this point:

Obama’s stance on Jerusalem was unprecedented in U.S.-Israel relations: although the United States had never recognized Israel’s annexation of the eastern part of the city in 1967, it had also never treated the building of Jewish neighborhoods there as a point of dispute between the two countries in this manner. However, Obama soon understood that not only had he not undermined Netanyahu (whose defense of Jewish rights was popular among Israelis), but he was also alienating part of his own political base: American Jews. While some in the administration had initially listened to the siren song of J Street, which falsely claimed that most American Jews would applaud a policy of pressure on Israel, it soon became clear that Obama’s stance was hurting the Democratic Party. The result of this realization was a furious effort to charm American Jews and supporters of Israel. The attacks on Netanyahu ceased, and the administration was soon issuing statements that noted the obvious about the stalled talks: the Palestinians were the ones who weren’t serious about peace.

But now that the election is over, Obama is back to his old tricks, seizing upon an announcement that can have no impact on any theoretical peace deal in order to pander to a Muslim world that seeks Israel’s destruction. By making a statement about Jerusalem while in Indonesia, Obama is signaling that the United States regards Jewish Jerusalem as being no different from the most remote settlement in the West Bank: an illegal outpost that must be destroyed and its inhabitants removed. Such a statement helps fuel the Arab irredentism that has been the primary obstacle to peace since Israel’s birth in 1948.

It is going to be a long 2 years--the only question is whether it will be longer for Israel, or for the Democrats.

Technorati Tag: Obama and Israeli Settlements and Jerusalem.