Why Israel Will Have To Be A Priority For Obama (Updated)

Regardless of the priorities that Obama may face as President, he is likely to be forced to address the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--according to Mitchell Bard of Myths and Facts Online.

Among the factors pressuring Obam to take action:

• The general view of the Democratic Party is that President Bush neglected the 'peace process' and US involvement is necessary to see it through.
• The EU has also called for the US to get more involved--possibly leading to more demands for Israeli concessions and giving a larger role to the EU.
• Arab allies of the US will look for an early indication of just where Obama stands
• The State Department--and Obama's own advisers--think they know how to bring peace to the region and are eager to pursue diplomatic efforts (again, focusing on Israeli concessions--including Jerusalem).

On the other hand, there are forces that would restrain Obama from pushing Israel to make concessions:

• Jews who were active in the Obama campaign will pressure Obama to fulfill his promise to ensure Israel's security.
• Congress is still friendly towards Israel and will try to limit the pressure Obama might put upon Israel.

Read the whole thing.

There are going to be a lot of high expectations from Obama and different interest groups are going to want to see their agenda put into action. The politician of few accomplishments will be expected to make up for lost time.

UPDATE: According to the Washington Post:

· Obama wants to make an early push on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, despite political turmoil in Israel. He has learned from watching Presidents Clinton and Bush that you can't wait until the eleventh hour to be an active mediator.

If that is the main lesson Obama learned from Clinton and Bush vis-a-vis Israel, then Israel is in big trouble.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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