Who We Are Dealing With

It seems to me that in Israel, the media is suffering from the same disease as in the United States. They are simply afraid to say anything negative about US President Barack Obama or his policies. The difference is in the degree. Where in the United States, the media makes no attempt to hide its love affair with Obama – even admitting it openly in several instances – in Israel, the situation is somewhat more reserved. Here, we know that Obama is up to no good, but the media remains to afraid to say it openly.

Yet if any indication was needed to prove just how unfriendly Obama is toward Israel, take the developing nuclear arms race among the “Axis of Evil” states. Iran, which for years has been quite open about its nuclear plans and its earnest wish to “wipe Israel off the map”, tested a ballistic missile last week capable of hitting targets within 2000 km – which includes most of Europe and the American forces stationed there, as well as any target within Israel. This missile, operated with solid fuel rather than the more primitive liquid variety, has greater accuracy at longer ranges than previous missiles deployed by Iran. And the missile was test fired during Obama’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, timing that was surely no accident.

Yet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could not quite put her finger on why Iran is such a concern. In comments she made late last week, she stated that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons would cause a nuclear arms race in the region, which would run counter to the interests of most Arab states and constitute a danger to America. Not one word was mentioned about Israel, or Ahmadinejad’s oft repeated threat to destroy this country.

Clinton’s complete naivete, or willful ignorance, is a very big reason why she should not be allowed to continue in her post. If the major threat to the US comes from a potential arms race in the Middle East, and not from the possibility that Iran might try to fulfill its threat to destroy another nation – and one that is strongly allied with the United States no less – then Clinton has quite a lot to learn about the world and is simply unqualified for her position.

Contrast this with President Obama’s very forceful response to the North Korean nuclear test this week, which was followed almost immediately by the testing of three long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Obama correctly condemned the tests and stated that they run counter to United Nations resolutions and that they pose a clear threat to both South Korea and Japan, “which the world must act against”.

Why is it that North Korea remains part of the “Axis of Evil” and warrants such stiff condemnation and calls for concerted international action against its nuclear arms program? Has North Korea voice any kind of clear threat against anyone? Has Kim Jong-Il threatened to sink Japan or wipe South Korea off the map? Has he attended a UN sponsored conference to do nothing other than call for the annihilation of another State? North Korea simply tested some of their own emerging technology, and this was enough for the US to issue the strongest condemnation of Barack Obama’s term in office.

Yet Iran, which openly and belligerently threatens another country; whose president uses every stage and opportunity to proclaim his desire to annihilate a member State of the United Nations, and who thumbs his nose at American interests in a large part of the world, merits no such condemnation. Not only that, Obama is interested in opening a dialogue with Iran in an effort to make nice and to appease Iran’s leaders into changing their mind.

Regarding North Korea, America’s leaders are very clear on where the threat emanates from and what it actually is – even though North Korea doesn’t state any threat openly. But regarding Iran, Clinton simply can’t bring herself to say that Iran’s threat is an open military threat against Israel. To her, the real threat is not important. It is only the perceived threat of a regional arms race that concerns her.

It is clear from this comparison that what is driving US policy toward Israel is nothing short of anti-Semitism. Let’s face it – where Israel is not the issue, the American response is in line with its historical posture. The US has always been strongly opposed to a nuclear North Korea. And rightly so.

But when Israel is the issue, no one’s home. Iran could fire a missile at Tel Aviv and wipe out a million Jews, and the current US administration would continue with its negotiations in the hope of preventing an arms race.

It is high time for Israel – the media, the government, and the nation as a whole – to wake up and understand the Obama Administration’s policies for what they are – a kick in the stomach to Israel’s existence. Prime Minister Netanyahu may already be aware of this and acting accordingly if his performance in Washington last week is to be continued.

But the logical conclusion is that Israel must find new allies to stand alongside us as America leads the rest of the world in turning against us. One such possible ally is India, which faces a grave threat from the possibility that Pakistan’s government will fall apart and leave its nuclear arsenal in the hands of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Finding such new alliances is not so difficult. But it will take courage to do so.

This article has also been posted on www.israelinsider.com and on www.israelnationalnews.com