Losing Ground Domestically, Obama Looks For A Big Win--Israel Better Look Out

Obama is falling deeper and deeper into unfamiliar territory: disapproval of his political performance


Jennifer Rubin writes about the astonishingly unexpected turn in Obama's presidency:

Now the adjective most associated with his administration is “chaos.” Liberals are amazed he has frittered away the opportunity of a generation to pass the Democratic dream of nationalized health care. Conservatives marvel that he could have delegated the drafting process to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

In sum, anyone hoping Obama would usher in a new era of idealism, bipartisanship and effective governance must be sorely disappointed. It is now about brute power and bare knuckle politics. The issue of the day now is: Can the president muscle through his increasingly unpopular health care plan by skirting congressional tradition and ignoring any angry electorate?

Questions are being raised about past and current measures that have been pushed through by Obama and how they reflect on measures still under discussion--witness the challenges to his proposed health care reform--and Obama's foreign policy is not going any more smoothly, not even when it comes to an issue that seemed to only need more American pressure in order to be resolved: the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Obama needs a clear victory. If he cannot bully the Republicans into backing--or at least not opposing--his policies, Obama may think that perhaps his first real success lies overseas, with the one country he feels he can bully: Israel.

All that was needed was more pressure on Israel while paying more attention to the Arabs in order to achieve what has escaped so many previous presidents. Instead, Obama has found that Israel is resistant and challenging US pressure. Meanwhile:

Obama has also left some Arab leaders with whom he recently met confused and doubtful about his intentions on Middle East peace. They have reported to aides that the president acknowledged that he has failed thus far to secure matching concessions from Arab countries and Israel as the basis for new negotiations.

The Arabs complain that they have been offered no tangible incentives to move toward normalizing relations with Israel before an Israeli-Palestinian deal is reached. They dismiss both Obama's publicly undisclosed demand for a one-year freeze on Israeli settlements and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's counteroffer of a six-month freeze as equally meaningless.

"Incrementalism and the step-by-step approach has not, and we believe will not, achieve peace," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters in Washington on July 31. The comments by Saud, who did not see Obama, echoed the broad Arab consensus that Obama has not been bold enough. "Temporary security, confidence-building measures will also not bring peace," the Saudi prince added.

The president promised his Arab interlocutors that he would spell out his Middle East strategy in a major address in mid-to-late September.

One Jerusalem has reason to believe that the major address will be given next month at the United Nations:

Several sources have informed One Jerusalem that the Obama Administration is planning to significantly step up the pressure on Israel by announcing a comprehensive plan for Israel and the Palestinians at the opening of the United Nations General in September.

Picture this: The anti-Israel nations of the world surrounding President Obama as he demands that Israel give up sovereignty over Jerusalem, abandon settlements, and recognize a terrorist state on the West Bank.

If this happens, Israel will be isolated from the rest of world in a very dramatic manner.

The first sign that something was up came when Egyptian President Mubarak said that the Obama Administration was ready to propose a plan in September and the White House rushed to dampen expectations by declaring that they are nowhere near to readying a plan.

Unlike Congress, the UN is united in its bias against Israel and will be sure to cheer Obama while sneering at Israel if it fails to follow through--the perfect setup for Obama as he tries to get what has thus far escaped him in politics: an accomplishment.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Obama.