As Trump Takes Office, A Last Look At Obama and Bush

As of Friday, January 20, we have a new president -- President Donald Trump.

Comparisons have been made between Trump and Obama, and we can expect many more comparisons to be made over the next four years. One of those comparisons is in connection with Israel.

Obama allowed passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, calling the settlements illegal and putting renewed pressure on Israel. Now along comes Trump, who has promised -- and has reiterated his intention to keep that promise -- to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Yet both claim to be friends of Israel.

8 Reasons Why Friday's UN Resolution 2334 Is Counterproductive and Just Plain Wrong

In the aftermath of Obama's support for UN Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli, reactions have not been short in coming -- and there are cogent arguments against the resolution.

Beyond what is being said about Obama and his motives or against the United Nations itself and the way the resolution was carried out, the fact remains there are reasons why the UN resolution may have many results -- but none of the ones it claims to support.

Here are some of those arguments being made:

Secretary of State John Kerry: The End of an Error

MR. KELLY: I mean, we’re not – but it’s – we are less than a year into this Administration, and I think we’ve accomplished more over the last year than the previous administration did in eight years.

QUESTION: Well, I – really, because the previous administration actually had them sitting down talking to each other. You guys can’t even get that far.
Daily press briefing, November 17, 2009, with State Department spokesperson comparing accomplishments on Israel-Palestinian peace

It's only natural that the Obama administration would want to sell what it thinks is the superiority of its policies. As his term in office wore on, Obama certainly got better at it -- to the extent that he was able to push through a deal with Iran, despite opposition by Congress and a majority of Americans.

But drawing opposing parties like Israel and the Palestinian Arabs into an agreement has proven to be far more difficult than merely running roughshod over native opposition.

Just ask John Kerry.

MEQ: Efraim Karsh: Obama's Middle East Delusions

The following by Efraim Karsh is reposted here with the permission of The Middle East Forum:

Obama's Middle East Delusions

by Efraim Karsh
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2016 (view PDF)

Iran's nuclear facility in Arak. Tehran's quest for nuclear weapons is, perhaps, the foremost threat to Middle Eastern stability, if not to world peace, in the foreseeable future. President Obama's policies have allowed Iran to move ever closer to producing nuclear weapons.

As the only person to have won the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of sheer hope rather than actual achievement, Barack Hussein Obama could be expected to do everything within his power to vindicate this unprecedented show of trust. Instead he has presided over a clueless foreign policy that has not only exacerbated ongoing regional conflicts but made the world a far more dangerous place. Nowhere has this phenomenon been more starkly demonstrated than in the Middle East where the Nobel laureate has abetted Tehran's drive for regional hegemony and brought the regime within a stone's throw of nuclear weapons; driven Iraq and Libya to the verge of disintegration; expedited the surge of Islamist terrorism; exacerbated the Syrian civil war and its attendant refugee problem; made the intractable Palestinian-Israeli conflict almost irresolvable; and plunged Washington's regional influence and prestige to unprecedented depths,[1] paving the road in grand style to Russia's resurgence.

Arlene Kushner on Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas at the United Nations

From Arlene Kushner:
September 29, 2014

UN Season

You will find that during this High Holiday season – and extending through Sukkot – my postings will be less frequent.  I hope that all who celebrated Rosh Hashana found it meaningful and joyful.

~~~~~~~~~~

Besides being the High Holiday season, this is also the time of year when a new session of the UN General Assembly starts (hardly to be compared in one breath!).  This means – aren’t we lucky? – that various heads of state and assorted other persons address the GA.

Last Wednesday (which was the eve of Rosh Hashana), President Obama spoke.  Ben Shapiro, a skilled and perceptive analyst – as well as a Harvard-trained lawyer – has written a piece on that speech that summarizes the important points neatly.

Obama Praises Abbas Leadership -- EU Condemns Abbas Squandering $2.6 Billion in Aid

Yesterday, Obama praised Abbas's leadership for peace:

I also want to point out that the Palestinian Authority has continued to try to build strong institutions in preparation for a day in which the Palestinians have their own state, and I will continue to emphasize the importance of rule of law, transparency, and effective reform so that not only do the Palestinians ultimately have a state on paper, but, more importantly, they have one that actually delivers on behalf of their people.

Unfortunately, Obama did not take the time to elaborate on the extent and type of institution-building Abbas has supposedly been up to.

Raymond Ibrahim: Behind Benghazi: Muslim Brotherhood and Obama Administration

The following by Raymond Ibrahim is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Behind Benghazi: Muslim Brotherhood and Obama Administration

by Raymond Ibrahim
CBN News
August 14, 2013
http://www.meforum.org/3585/benghazi-muslim-brotherhood

Raymond Ibrahim

Evidence that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was directly involved in the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, where Americans including U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens were killed, continues to mount.

First, on June 26, 2013, I produced and partially translated what purported to be an internal Libyan governmental memo which was leaked and picked up by many Arabic websites. According to this document, the Muslim Brotherhood, including now ousted President Morsi, played a direct role in the Benghazi consulate attack. "Based on confessions derived from some of those arrested at the scene," asserted the report, six people, "all of them Egyptians" from the jihad group Ansar al-Sharia (Supporters of Islamic Law), were arrested. During interrogations, these Egyptian jihadi cell members:

The Middle East Media Sampler 12/26/2012: Anti-Israel Activists Support Hagel Because He's Good For Israel?

From +David Gerstman:

1) Is Chuck roast?

Credit: Wiki Commons

Thomas Friedman joins Steven Walt in supporting the nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. (In Twitter, Friedman's view is supported by the likes of David Rothkopf, Robert Wright and Trita Parsi. We have the spectacle of anti-Israel activists endorsing Friedman's columns because he argues that Hagel would be good for Israel.) In Give Chuck a chance, Friedman writes:

Has Obama Become A Kinder, Gentler Friend Of Israel?

Obama's second term has not even officially started, but already there are claims that a new, more positive, relationship between Obama and Israel has begun.

In response, Barry Rubin debunks The Useful Myth that Obama Now Likes Israel. He notes the 2 basic events that are offered as proof of Obama's new attitude towards Israel:

• The U.S. government issued routine statements of support for Israel's battle in Gaza while apparently urging it not go on too long and not include a ground attack. It didn’t go out of its way much on the issue, however, for example not rethinking the president’s love affair with the Turkish Islamist regime despite the fact that its prime minister froths at the mouth with hatred of Israel.
  
  
• The U.S. government opposed as it always has the UN’s upgrading the PA's status. The American government realizes that such behavior is a torpedoing of the Oslo accords and peace process of which is was a guarantor.

But Rubin also notes that at the same time:

Is Obama's New Plan: Out With Abbas, In With Hamas?

At the Powerlne blog, Paul Mirengoff writes that Israel-Hamas ceasefire reflects Obama's goal of establishing of Hamas as the representative voice of the Palestinian Arabs:

In 2009, a very senior European diplomat told me (and some other bloggers) that Hamas, which he characterized as “moderate,” is the party with which Israel must ultimately settle. (The word “moderate” in this context has nothing to do with ideology; rather it means, precisely, the party with which Israel is expected to settle).

Obama's Policy Changes And The Costanza Doctrine

Seth Mandel writes that a new era may be dawning in the Obama administration as Barack Obama inaugurates the Costanza Doctrine:

In a season five episode of “Seinfeld,” George Costanza’s character decides his life has been marked by an almost uninterrupted parade of bad decisions, and he must now do the opposite to break the pattern. The L.A. Times tries delicately to couch the Obama administration’s second-term foreign policy agenda in terms of moderation and pragmatism, but voters may, if the report is correct, witness an agenda quite different in tone and substance from what Obama told them he would do if reelected.

The Middle East Media Sampler 11/13/2012: Friedman Back To Bashing Israel

From DG:

1) Friedman vs. Israel

Thomas Friedman used the occasion of President Obama's re-election to return to his favorite topic: bashing Israel, in his Sunday column My President is busy. Aside from demonstrating his ignorance about using Google, Friedman makes a couple of mistakes.

If Netanyahu Is Not Re-elected, Obama May Find Labor's Shelly Yacimovich Just As Right Wing

With all of the speculation that Obama -- who never got along with Netanyahu -- will seek revenge against Israel's leader, one line of thought is that Obama may try (again) to undermine Bibi in hopes of his main rival, Labor's Shelly Yacimovich, becoming prime minister.

Good luck with that.

Evelyn Gordon notes that Bibi and Main Rival Agree on Peace Process.

Does Obama's Election Victory Give Him A Mandate -- To Undo His Previous Mandate?

The Christian Science Monitor echoes the opinion of some that unlike Obama's first election victory -- Obama's 2012 election victory does not give him a mandate:

Election results 2012: Does Obama's historic victory give him a mandate?

An outcome that maintains the status quo in Washington guarantees Obama some important advantages. But the 2012 election results also foretell more gridlock, and the president, by not offering a path out of debt and deficit, lacks a clear mandate for action.

But on the other hand, there may be a mandate for Obama after all.

A conservative one!

Arlene Kushner: Obama Is Re-elected President

Major Correction: I misunderstood the Obama's speech below as his victory speech; it was his acceptance speech. I have changed the title of this post accordingly.

I apologize for the error.

From Arlene Kushner:
November 7, 2012

Stunned

What is it I'm supposed to say? That the people have spoken?  Technically, of course it is true  -- for indeed Obama will be president for another four years and this must be respected.  But I cannot accept that in this electoral vote there rested wisdom or understanding. 

Rather, I feel that the people didn't have complete information.  They didn't get it. The liberal leaning media saw to that.  Dear Heaven, the fiasco at Benghazi should have been sufficient in and of itself to deny him the election.  If only Benghazi had been covered fully by the mainstream media.

Arlene Kushner: Thoughts And Articles About Election Day

From Arlene Kushner:
November 4, 2012

Election Day

Sharing some significant articles today -- relevant for this day and thereafter...

"I Didn't Leave the Democrats, They Left Me," writes Sheldon Adelson (with my emphasis added).

"When members of the Democratic Party booed the inclusion of God and Jerusalem in their party platform this year, I thought of my parents.

"They would have been astounded.

The Myth of Barack Obama Has Been Punctured Forever

The following by Jonathan Rosenblum is reposted here with permission:

Obama Betrayed by Media Adulation

by Jonathan Rosenblum
Mishpacha
October 12, 2012


The first debate between President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney turned out to be the most decisive in the history of presidential debates dating back to 1960. In the week following the debate, Romney went from over three points down in the Real Clear Politics average of national polls to take his first ever lead over the President.

While Obama may still win the election, the myth of Barack Obama has been punctured forever.

Video: Latma's Love Song To Obama From The Arab World

Here is the latest from Latma -- featuring the return of Aryeh Deri and a special love song dedicated to Obama:

Remember When They Said It Would Be Impossible To Make Fun Of Obama?

Over the last year or so, I seemed to remember that there was a time, near the beginning of Obama's term as president, when people were saying that there was something about Obama that was going to make it difficult for comedians to make fun of him.

I finally decided to do a check if I was recalling correctly, and for the most part it seems I was.

Obama's "Blueprint for America’s Future" Does Not Add Up

This would be hilarious if it weren’t so … well, hilarious, really, but in a very sad way. The Barack Obama campaign officially launched in April 2011. They have raised something close to a billion dollars, and they’ve certainly spent almost as much on field offices, GOTV efforts, and tons of campaign advertising. They even created their fantasy of a woman living under Barack Obama’s benevolent governance, “Julia,” that managed to creep out so many women that they have done their best to send Julia to the Island of Misfit Political Mascots.

The one thing they didn’t have is a reason for anyone to vote for Barack Obama — a second-term agenda.
Ed Morrissey, New Obama ad: Dude, I found my second-term agenda!, Hot Air, October 23, 2012

Well, Obama has finally come out with a "Blueprint for America’s Future" and decided to tell the American people what he would do if re-elected. I suppose he could be forgiven if he thought that everyone in the media would jump on board and trumpet the merits of his newly available plan.

The fact is, not everyone in the media does not seem to be buying it.