Obama and Jewish Democrats

I wonder how Democrats of the Jewish faith will explain away the way President Obama treated Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their recent meeting.

During his run for office, Obama talked endlessly of dialogue and negotiation and criticized the United States under the Bush Administration of being a bully. Well, let’s take a look at how diplomatic dialogue works under the Obama administration.

According to the London Times and London Daily Telegraph, Netanyahu attempted to show through flow charts that he was not responsible for the timing of announcements concerning Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. Obama’s idea of diplomacy was to present Netanyahu with a list of 13 demands to sign off on. Obama would not negotiate or discuss these demands. The message was clear: sign off or else. Obama told Netanyahu that Obama had to meet with the Arab League in Libya and that he needed to show them “something.” When Netanyahu resisted Obama response was to walk out of the meeting and to have diner without inviting Netanyahu as his guest! He told Netanyahu to “let him know if there was anything new.” Apparently, this is a new form of diplomacy and dialogue under the Nobel Prize winner. Follow my orders without question – or else.

But this is nothing new for the Nobel Prize winner. Obama’s treatment of British Prime Minister Brown was to cancel a joint press conference with him in March. Also, just a month earlier Obama met with the Dali Lama despite objections from China. Obama spent a little more than an hour with the Dalai Lama – but the meeting was held in the map room rather than the oval office and there was no joint press conference or television footage of the two. Further, it was reported that the Dali Lama was escorted out of the White House the “long way” through a garbage-strewn patio.


I guess all of this is considered diplomacy – if you are a product of the Chicago brand of thug politics.

But I digress. I recall the signs in front of Jewish synagogues telling us Obama was a friend of Israel and the Jewish people. One sign in West Delray Beach, Florida recommended that people in the congregation “Support the Schvartzer.” Well it seems to me the Obama has sold out his “Jewish friends.” I only wonder if these Jewish Democrats will ever call him to task.

Submitted by Jim Pirretti