Barry Rubin seems to think that he does:
It is ironic to think that the Obama Administration, whose ignorance of Israel and its politics cannot possibly be overestimated, thought it was going to bring down Netanyahu and replace him with a more pliable Livni. In fact, by its periodic bashing of Israel and ham-handed Middle East policy promoting Israel-hating Islamists, Obama unintentionally mobilized domestic support for Netanyahu.
The irony is, indeed, rich.
Although, I do not know that it was ever really Obama administration policy to try to derail Netanyahu's governing coalition, it certainly seemed that way when Obama officials were publicly dressing down the Israelis and, in particular, Netanyahu. What they didn't count on, apparently, was the good sense of the Israeli people who do not seem to enjoy being lectured at, by either the American president or his Jewish supporters in the states, about Israeli security measures.
Good for them!
As my dear 'ol ma might have said, Israel needs J-Street, or the likes of Peter Beinart, like Israel needs a hole in the head. For myself, I will trust the Israelis... not Obama and certainly not progressive-left diaspora Jews... to make Israeli security decisions.
I'll trust Netanyahu over Jeremy ben Ami any day.
Rubin makes the point that the Obama admin does not understand Israel or its politics. That goes double I think for most of the leftist pundits.
ReplyDeleteThey always seem about 15 years out of touch.
15 years is just about right.
DeleteThe problem with our progressive-left Jewish friends is that they absolutely refuse to learn the lesson of the second terror war (intifada) and the failure of Oslo.
They still believe that the fundamental problem is not Palestinian intransigence and incitement to violence, but Likud.
It's irrational, I know, but what should one expect from people who continue to pretend to be ostriches?
Far fewer Israelis have died under Bibi's watch so far.
DeleteAfter the shabby White House bum's rush he got, all Bibi owes teh O Man is a left to the gut.
ReplyDelete