White House blasts Netanyahu, infers reversal of U.S. support in the U.N.’s Security Council

In early March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in defiance of President Obama’s wishes – stood before a joint meeting of the United States Congress.

 

There, in full view of America and of the world, he delivered an impassioned plea outlining what he considered serious flaws with the in-progress terms and conditions of negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the U.S. concerning Iran’s march towards building a nuclear arsenal.

His speech quickly drew a searing blast of disapproval from the White House, and was characterized by the media as a ploy to win re-election in a nail-biting contest where Netanyahu was reportedly trailing his opponent, Isaac Herzog.

According to media reports, Herzog was thought to have been the favorite of the White House:  He was presumed to be far more pliable to the wishes of the Obama Administration’s push to convince Israel to relinquish territory that it occupied after the 1967 war.

 

However, Netanyahu’s unexpected come-from-behind electoral victory upset 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’s apple cart.  His win was quickly followed by a second White House burst of disapproval even more intense than the first:

 

Netanyahu was accused of flipping his position concerning his alleged reversal about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He was criticized for his comments of Israeli Arabs “flocking” to the polls, and was accused of forming a last-minute alliance with hard-right Israeli political groups.

Barack Obama has consistently insisted that Israel revert to the borders that existed before the 1967 six-day war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

 

Nonetheless, Netanyahu has just as consistently maintained that Israel would not do that without iron-clad conditions to guarantee its security.  He recently said that he sees none of those now on the horizon.

What Netanyahu does see in the proposed Iranian deal which he so fiercely criticized is a largely one-sided, unverifiable agreement that will eliminate sanctions upon Iran, and facilitate the rise of an aggressive nuclear regime determined “to wipe Israel off the map.”

The security of any nation’s own citizens is at the apex of its responsibilities.  Without security you have nothing – not the basics of life – nothing.  This fundamental, existential premise is well-understood and internalized by the Israeli prime minister.

Israel is bounded to the north by Lebanon which is controlled by a militant Hezbollah.  To its northeast rise the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria during the six-day 1967 war and annexed by Israel in 1981.

To the east sits the West Bank, a region captured from Jordan in the 1967 war.  It is now controlled by Israel where about half a million Israelis live among four times the number of Palestinians.

To the south is Gaza, a contentious strip of land which Israel relinquished to the Palestinians, but which is now controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.   Gaza has become a platform employed by Hamas to rain thousands of rockets into populated areas of Israel.

Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran.

Though concerned, Netanyahu is not paranoid.  Should Israel give up territory beyond what it has already done with Gaza, as Obama wants him to do, crucial Israeli locations could become prime targets for a hostile Islamist regime supported by Iran or other Islamist groups.

Furthermore, the can-of-worms struggle against ISIS that involves Syria, Iraq, Iranian military advisors, Kurds, other militias popping up all over the field of battle, in addition to “U.S. coalition” air strikes adds far more complexity.

Widespread chaos now endemic throughout the Middle East gives Israel reasonable pause to doubt placing trust in a flawed Iranian nuclear proposal, and in territorial demands advanced by a White House seemingly inured to the realities of this region.

The U.S. administration has not even consulted with its own Congress for what should be a solid treaty concerning Iran’s nuclear non-proliferation.

 

What the world has observed in the last six years is an American administration that has largely lost its global credibility.

 

Following one failed foreign policy disaster after another, hope and change for lasting peace in the Middle East seems to have dissolved like a mirage evaporating in the scorching deserts of Iraq, Syria, Tunisia and Libya.

Our very recent, ignominious and hasty Vietnam-style retreat from our embassy in Yemen and our pullback from fighting terrorism there is the latest sign of foreign policy failure.

Thanks for reading and look forward to a balmy springtime.