September 7, 2012, 3:30 AM
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Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama and his supporters have been dogged by criticism of his position on Israel. From the very outset of his tenure in office, critics and supporters alike have not been able to shake the sense that Obama is deeply hostile to the Jewish state.
Obama and his supporters have responded to every criticism of his treatment of Israel by pulling out a list. Every time his record on Israel is criticized, Obama and his supporters pull out a list of the things he has done for Israel. Just this week, in an op-ed in The New York Times, Democratic donor Haim Saban pulled out the list to justify his support for Obama.
As the list notes, Obama has given billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel. He has gotten stiff sanctions passed against Iran by the UN Security Council. He has agreed to sell F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Israel. During his presidency, they say, the US has expanded its intelligence and military coordination with Israel. Obama has opposed some anti-Israel resolutions at the UN.
Obama's critics respond to Obama's list with a series of points. They note that in approving increases in US military assistance to Israel, including for the Iron Dome rocket defense system, Obama is simply carrying out a pledge made by his predecessor George W. Bush. They note that the UN Security Council sanctions have had no impact on Iran's nuclear weapons program.
So, too, Obama opposed even stronger sanctions against Iran passed with the overwhelming support of both houses of Congress.
He had to be forced, kicking and screaming, to sign those sanctions into law. And since he signed the sanctions law, he has used his presidential power to water them down.
Obama's critics mention that due to his insistence on appeasing Iran, last week Iran enjoyed its greatest diplomatic triumph since the 1979 Iranian revolution. More than a hundred nations sent representatives to Tehran to participate in the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit. And in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon, those nations expressed support for Iran's nuclear program.
And while it is true that Obama has blocked two anti-Israel initiatives at the UN, he has been more supportive of the inherently anti-American and anti-Israel UN system than any of his recent predecessors.
As for Israeli-US intelligence cooperation, under Obama for the first time, the US has systematically leaked Israel's most closely guarded secrets to the media.
Indeed, critics of Obama's policy towards Israel have their own list. It includes Obama's repeated humiliations of Israel's prime minister. It includes the multiple clashes Obama has initiated with Israel with regards to Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. It includes Obama's adoption of the Palestinians' position on Israel's borders.
But still, as Obama and his supporters will say, facts are facts and they have a list. And because the list is true - as far as it goes - they can argue that Obama is supportive of Israel.
Given its superficially compelling argument, it is remarkable that Obama's list has failed to end the debate about his position on Israel. Today Americans have no interest in foreign policy.
They don't want to hear that by leaving Iraq as he did, Obama squandered everything that the US fought for. They don't want to hear that he effectively handed the country over to Iran, which now has the ability to use Iraq as its forward base for operations in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.
They don't want to hear that Obama's surgeand- leave strategy in Afghanistan is fomenting a US defeat in that war and setting the conditions for the reinstitution of the Taliban government.
They don't want to hear about how Russia and China view the US with contempt and challenge its economic and strategic interests every day.
They don't want to hear how Obama played a key role in overthrowing the US's key ally in the Arab world, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. They don't want to consider the implications of the fact that the US is now bankrolling the Muslim Brotherhood's transformation of Egypt into an anti- American, radical Islamic regime.
And yet, in the face of this absence of interest in the world outside their borders, Americans remain interested in the question of whether or not Obama is supportive of Israel.
There are two reasons for Americans' enduring interest and concern about Israel. And they were both revealed this week at the Democratic National Convention when the story broke about how this year's Democratic platform differs from its 2008 platform. First it was reported that the platform contained no mention of God.
Then it was reported that unlike the 2008 platform, this year's Democratic Party platform made no mention of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
This year's platform watered down the language on Israel in other significant ways as well.
It did not refer to Israel as the US's "strongest ally" in the Middle East. It did not call for the continued eschewal of the Hamas terror group by the international community. It did not mention US opposition to the Palestinian demand for the so-called "right of return" - through which Israel would be destroyed by an influx of millions of foreign Arabs in the framework of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians. But whereas these other deletions were generally ignored, the platform's silence on Jerusalem generated a maelstrom of criticism that exceeded even its deletion of God.
Significantly, rather than treat the deletions of God and Jerusalem as separate issues, the media and the Democrats themselves presented them as two sides of the same coin. When on Wednesday the party's leadership decided to restore the language of the 2008 platform on God and Jerusalem - but not on Hamas, the so-called "right of return," and Israel's strategic significance to the US - they opted to do so in the same amendment.
The widespread perception of God and Jerusalem as related issues tells us something important about the American character. And it tells us something equally important about Obama and the party he leads.
Prof. Walter Russell Mead described Israel's place in the American mindset last year. As he put it, "Israel matters in American politics like almost no other country on earth. Well beyond the American Jewish and the Protestant fundamentalist communities, the people and the story of Israel stir some of the deepest and most mysterious reaches of the American soul. The idea of Jewish and Israeli exceptionalism is profoundly tied to the idea of American exceptionalism. The belief that God favors and protects Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects America."
Mead continued, "Being pro-Israel matters in American mass politics because the public mind believes at a deep level that to be pro-Israel is to be pro-America and pro-faith. Substantial numbers of voters believe that politicians who don't 'get' Israel also don't 'get' America and don't 'get' God."
By removing both God and Jerusalem from the platform, Obama and his fellow Democrats stirred the furies of that American soul at its foundations.
They showed they don't "get" Israel or God. And by extension, they don't "get" America.
The intellectually confusing decision to lump Jerusalem and God together in the same amendment no doubt owed to the fact that someone in the party recognized how disastrous the deletions were for their ability to convince wavering voters that the Democratic Party has their back.
And this brings us to nature of the Democratic Party today. For the amendment to the platform to pass, it needed the support of two-thirds of the convention's delegates. And so, on Wednesday morning, the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, brought the amendment to the floor for a voice vote.
Much to his obvious shock, the amendment did not receive the requisite support. Calls supporting the amendment were met by at least equally strong calls opposing it. Villaraigosa was forced to call the vote three times before declaring - contrary to the evidence - that the amendment had passed.
More than anything else, the floor vote showed how out of step a large and significant constituency in the Democratic Party is with the basic character of their country. The spectacle should raise concerns among all supporters of Israel who believe Obama's pro-Israel list is proof they have a safe home today in the Democratic Party.
Jerusalem's conflation with God in the American imagination is not the only reason so many people attacked the platform's watered-down language on US-Israel ties. The second reason for the uproar explains why the issue of Obama's support for Israel is the only foreign policy question that has dogged his administration since he took office. It explains why American support for Israel is a more salient issue for Americans than Iraq or Afghanistan, Britain, Turkey or Russia.
Here, too, Israel's symbolic importance in the American imagination is central for understanding the matter. Beyond its religious significance, there is a widespread perception that Israel is on the front line of the war against America. As a consequence, Israel is the only foreign policy issue that telegraphs messages about the nature of America's foreign policy to an otherwise disengaged and largely indifferent American public.
For most Americans - if not for most Democrats - support for Israel is the most important plank of US foreign policy because it indicates the nature of that foreign policy as a whole. A president who supports Israel is a president who has his priorities straight. A president who is hostile to Israel is a president who can't be trusted on Iran or Russia or China or anything else.
In an apparent effort to end this state of affairs, Obama has adopted a policy towards Iran - whose nuclear program represents the greatest rising threat to US national security - that frames the issue as Israel's problem.
In so doing, Obama seeks to achieve two goals. First, he seeks to decouple Israel's national security from America's national security in the popular imagination. And second, he seeks to diminish popular support for Israel by presenting Israel as a country that is pushing America into an unnecessary war.
Obama's list of pro-Israel actions is essential to his ability to achieve this specific goal, and through its achievement to convince Americans of the overall success of his foreign policy. The list is essential because it transforms Israel in the public mind from a strategic ally into a strategic basket case in need of America's constant assistance.
In line with this, it is telling that the amendment of the Democratic platform did not return the 2008 platform's characterization of Israel as America's "strongest ally" in the Middle East.
But as the outcry the platform changes provoked demonstrated, Obama has failed to achieve this goal. And this is wonderful news.
On the other had, as long as he has supporters willing to publish op-eds and give interviews devoted to repeating the list, Obama will continue to make the case that he can be trusted on foreign policy despite his abandonment of God, Jerusalem and America's most vital interests.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.
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I can't help but be very disturbed by these events at the Democratic Convention. I watched in shock when this vote was televised, and I saw that there was a sizable number of people who supported not reinstating the deleted issues. I can only conclude and say that if the United States has any majority of conscience remaining in the country, this man, Obama, must be defeated. I must confess to becoming quite cynical and disgusted with American Jewry for having voted for him. I pray that there are indeed enough people of conscience who will deny this troublemaker, this racial divider of America, this egotistical malcontent, a second term. Im Yirtze Hashem.
As Congressman Allen West (R-FL) , himself a devout Christian, said of it:
"Israel completes me as a person".
Almost against my will I watched the unfolding of the continued drama at the Democratic Convention. Frankly it came as no surprise that the amendment on G-d and Israel met with such strong opposition. There is no question that the nays actually won and Mayor Villaraigosa actually seemed somewhat embarrassed as he called for the vote over and over. Then again by word and deed Obama has shown his contempt for Israel and yes, G-d on numerous occasions. I'd like to think that Wednesday's fiasco would have some meaning for the Jewish vote. Unfortunately there are still too many Leftist Jews and American Jews who have little or no thought about the Jewish State still out there waiting to reelect one of the worst presidents America has ever had and certainly the most antisemitic. Excellent as always Caroline and I wish more people would listen. Not only is the future of the Jewish Homeland at risk, but also all the values we've held dear in the US. Shabbat shalom and G-d's blessings on you, your loved ones and all Klal Yisrael.
Caroline you got it right.
The landscape of the Democratic party has changed over the years and now leans far to the left.
Secular progressives have taken the reins.
We have a president who was no more than a
We need to return to what we have come to believe and strive for "live by our Judeo-Christian principals"
It is equally important that Israel avoids the secular progressives.
If our founding fathers could see how the government operates today, they would be totally disgusted.
And by damn, a majority of all Americans know Jerusalem is the capital of the sovereign Jewish Nation of Israel.
After being elected President, Pres. Romney should move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The DNC leader and pitbull for Obama, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is an embarrassment to true Jews and a deceitful blot on the American political landscape!
That being said, I am beginning to feel a bit like Lot did as he sat at the gates of Sodom and pondered at how corrupt his society had become. At this point when I hear people say "G-d bless America" I can't help but ask how will that possibly happen when millions of women here in America want, expect and demand that America underwrite and finance the murder of their unborn children in their wombs. We have come to the place where what was formerly considered good is now considered evil, and what was called evil is now viewed as good. Men and women drooling over pornographic films and literature, while teenage children from broken families submit themselves to prostitution as sex slaves just to survive. Millions of Americans clamoring to make drugs legal, so that they can live in a haze and destroy their lives and the lives of others, becoming deadbeats dependent on government support. Men lying with men and women with women and self inseminating with turkey basters rather than marry. Leaders who care nothing for their constituents and are in government positions only for the sake of their own personal gain. No, I don't think that G-d will continue to bless America anymore, I think that G-d is judging America and we as Americans have condemned ourselves to obscurity and possibly even destruction at the hand of other nations as has always been the manner which G-d has meted out His justice on evildoers! History has shown that all the legislation in the world won't change the hearts of a corrupt society, unless there is a massive and abrupt turn around in the hearts of Americans which doesn't seem likely, we can only look ahead to a bleak future if any for this nation until the Lord comes!
One point that was missed was the fact that though it should have been obvious that the nays were much louder on the third count, after that woman poked her head in and basically said give em what they want, the vote went against what the majority wanted. This, because the Obama administration will do whatever it takes to get the Jewish vote. They know that they already have the lemmings faithful vote. Why not lie to get the fence sitters also?
"Today Americans have no interest in foreign policy." - Worse, all polls demonstrate Obama's popularity on foreign policy. Two things symbolize the decline of American civilization, showing as they do a total cluelessness of the country's electorate. One is the exceptionally high grade Obama gets for his glaring failures vis-a-vis the rest of the world, while the other is the high (70%)popularity enjoyed by Bill Clinton, the man involved in a number of well-publicized immoral acts (among them perjury and the pardoning of Marc Rich).
Excellent description of a huge problem.
Your story, Caroline, appeals to my faith (the christian faith). I have been discussing the controversy in prayers during the last thirty years, with… God.
His Name is 'God of Israel'. He is more powerful than American Democrats, whose names got stuck in sin anyway.
To solve problems, one needs tools. In prayer our human spirit gets guidance from the Holy One, about what we can do best in this war. Gods Spirit is running like deep rivers in His laws. He burns evil forces in fire!
So, it is not just politics! From the army: Shabbat Shalom.
The answer is simple but the reality is harsh. The left, especially in the media, needs to be purged, so that they cannot propagandise and indoctrinate the population and promote and protect the left. There must be accountability which does not exist for leftists/Marxists but does for everyone else, especially their enemies. They don't even pretend to be honest and fair minded or truth seeking anymore.
Next the schools and courts because the left always seeks to control these things to consolidate their power. They always seek a stranglehold on information, of explanations and potential remedies. True decision making is never left to the people because they cannot be counted upon to vote the way that the Marxists want, nor even see things the same way that the Marxists do. Their minds must be controlled. They must be "educated."
The message you will receive in Marxist schools will be Marxist. The remedies you will receive from Marxist courts will be Marxist. The society that will be produced by Marxists, will be Marxist.
The damage to that society caused by Marxists will always be blamed on someone else. This is because the Marxists realize that they are lying and causing harm deliberately, and wish to avoid being lined up against a wall and shot because of it.
Is it not strange that Obama Kicked out God and Jerusalem. Unfortunately for Obama people noticed and Obama had to do some hasty backtracking and repair work. So he had to instruct the DEM convention to pass a reversing amendment. Then somehow the issue of God and Jerusalem got linked together and the crowd was non to pleased to have Jeruusalem back in. So God and Jerusalem were thrown out of the tent and they were both dragged back into the tent with the delegates kicking and screaming. The truth is Jerusalem is a key issue that is going to sift the nations and cut them to pieces. Ultimately if you dont want Jerusalem in Jewish hands you dont want God. The DEMS say they dont want God with many of their anti-God platforms. So the fact that God and Jerusalem happened to get linked was not a coincidence. Obama can barely restrain his vitriolic, ascerbic hatred of Israel , he is an anti-semite to the core who pretends at being a Christian for political expediency. Woe to the world if this pretender to the throne gets another term. Here is the video again. apparently the DEMS have spoken quite clearly, quite frightening. Even with a linkage to God they rejected Jerusalem as Israels capital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncbOEoQbOg
Amidst Boos And Multiple Votes, DNC Reverses Position And Reinstates Jerusalem
www.youtube.com
Durring the Democratic National Convention boos break out for the vote to reverse the party's position on Jerusalem
Who in their right mind believes that Obama, the leader of his party didn't bless the original "no God", "no Jerusalem" wording of the 2012 Democratic platform?
If things work like they do in my country of birth the official party platform does not matter much, what matters is Obama's track record in combination with probable amplification of his inclinations in the second term due to lack of need to get re-elected. The actual text about Jerusalem in this year's Democratic Party platform is better than what I would have guessed listening to The United States Department of State as of late (March this year). But it does resemble what then presidential candidate Obama said in 2008.
Barack Obama (June 2008):
"Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/abbas-slams-obama-for-saying-jerusalem-to-stay-israel-s-undivided-capital-1.247201
From this year's Democratic Party platform:
“Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform
And here is how it is between elections (March 2012):
'When a reporter asked whether the U.S. Administration does not regard Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Nuland replied, "Jerusalem is a permanent-status issue. It's got to be resolved through negotiations".
“That seems to suggest that you do not regard Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Is that correct or not?” the reporter pressed.
"I have just spoken to this issue and I have nothing further to say on it", Nuland replied.'
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/focus-u-s-a/what-s-the-capital-of-israel-don-t-ask-the-u-s-state-department-1.421341
"The belief that God favors and protects Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects America."
There is a good reason for that. The USA can be identified as one of the so-called "lost ten tribes of Israel" - specifically, the tribe of Manasseh.
So much of Bible prophecy pertains to the modern day "house of Irael" - meaning all 12 tribes of which Judah (the Jews) are one tribe.
So while it is accurate to say the Jews are the chosen people, it is more accurate to say Israel is God's chosen people (meaning the 12 tribes of Israel).
Israel was chosen by God to set an example to the world by keeping the law of the ten commandments.
Since all 12 tribes failed to do that, Israel went through sore trials including war and captivity at certain points in history.
So when a prophecy speaks about Israel, it does not necessarily mean the Jews.
After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was divided.
In fact, many people do not realize the Bible speaks about the House of Judah and the House of Israel.
A case in point is a prophecy for Israel that is for America today.
Those who understand prophecy can see the DNC with Obama, Hillary and all the leadership in office today are bringing America ever so close to the brink of disaster.
The handwriting is on the wall. The USA has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. America today is like the Titanic. It is a good analogy because the USA is a sinking ship.
Obama and Hillary put their trust in the military. God says "I will break the pride of your power."
When America is defeated in World War III by an enemy they cannot now see - there will be no retaliation. Their military will not save them.
The prophet Isaiah provides us with a good description of America today:
"None calls for justice, nor any pleads for truth: they trust in vanity and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity...
The way of peace they know not and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
So justice is far from us; we look for light but there is darkness; for brightness but we walk in blackness.
Like the blind we grope along the wall feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong we are like the dead.
For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins [the transgression of the law] testify against us...
Rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God;
fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street and honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey"
(Isaiah 59).
This prophecy is for the United States of America today.
The Ezekiel watchman message of witness and warning has gone out to America for over 50 solid years on radio and television.
It was not a popular message and people did not want to hear it.
Isaiah also gives us the same message:
"Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins (Isaiah 58:1).
Millions of people around the world have heard that message of witness and warning like thunder over hundreds of radio and television stations for decades.
Most who have heard it refuse to believe it.
But when America goes down in World War III they will remember where they heard it.
They don't believe it now but they will believe it then.
"And when all this comes to pass - and it surely will - then they shall know that a prophet has been among them"(Ezekiel 33:33).
Caroline,
The facts are a little more complicated than either a list of Obama's support for Israel or a counter list of instances of Obama's lack of support. The Democrats have a big tent that includes a delegation to their convention that looks very different from the delegation that attended the Republican convention the week before. Lots of liberals from labor and a panoply of interest groups all coming together and carrying signs for their moment in the national spotlight. The left in America, (Jewish and otherwise), has serious questions about the settlements and 45 years of occupation, a policy that is parallel with both Democratic and Republican administrations. In addition to Oslo, we have seen two Israeli Prime Ministers offer peace agreements to the Palestinians that included the division of Jerusalem. I believe Obama represents a new generation of leadership that is more akin to Aaron David Miller's recent description than Haim Saban's. However, the speed with which the Democratic Party had to repair the breach on Israel as well as G-d, defines the carefully calibrated relationship that exists between Israel and any US President whether they threaten to withold funds re settlement construction as did George HW Bush or push for a settlement freeze as an avenue to open the door to peace with security as Barack Obama did.
As they did in King David's day, "...The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!"
He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, "But as for Me, I have installed my King upon Zion, My holy mountain."
"A president who supports Israel is a president who has his priorities straight. A president who is hostile to Israel is a president who can't be trusted on Iran or Russia or China or anything else"....Hi Caro, i could not agree more with this. Obama's Priorities are skewed towards Muslims and Jews/Israel for Sure are the least of his concerns. Many a times he is Arm-twisted to support policies favoring Israel. He does NOT deserve another term. Only that am still not sure what Romney stands for. Still can't separate empty Rhetoric from actual Promises. Still undecided.
Your articles and Peaces are more important NOW more than ever to help many people decide. Thanks Caro. We love you.
Bible prophecy shows us what will happen in the future.
Muslims also believe in "God" so you're right, the two are separate issues. Separate intellectually, but with a cultual/emotional resonance.
God-talk is a substitute for explaining what is going on in the nervous system. For instance, the biggest pipe organs resonate at 8hz, the frequency of alpha brain waves.
So if "God" means, resonance with the highest brain states, then I'm all for "God".
But if "God" means suicide bombing or anti-life, then it is an attempt to create a supernatural reality right beside natural reality.
Of course to create this kind of dichotomy is Platonic, and tends to create a synergistic relationship, as in muscle-mysticism.
I believe Jerusalem to be the rightful capital of Israel. I am pro-Israel not because of it's mystical aspects, but rather because of it's humanistic aspects.
What has taken me decades to realize,
is that Judaism is not just another religion. By asserting monotheism and tending to realize human potential in achievements, Judaism has asserted universal validity and celebrates humanism.
As usual, I find myself impressed with Ms. Glick's Commentary. I think sometimes she must read my mail...LOL !!! She is on target! I recommend her site to people all the time if they want a clear look at what is going on with Israel! G+D bless her!!!!
Shalom Caroline Glick ! Toda rabah for your most excellent reporting. Having had the privilege of listening to you and regularly reading your articles, we would like to commend them to everyone "who has ears to hear". Your input, especially NOW, is of absolutely vital importance. We have a clear choice, either standing with HaShem and His Word, The Hebrew Scriptures, or else standing against. Zechariah 8 : 23 May we take this opportunity of wishing you L' Shana Tova U-Metukah - 5773.
"Beyond its religious significance, there is a widespread perception that Israel is on the front line of the war against America."???
I was not aware that there is war on America. Who's waging it? To most Europeans it seems the other way around.
Here's the deal in a nutshell: Progressives/Marxists have infiltrated the media and our education system for long enough such that an entire generation + are literally brainswashed and/or uninformed. Couple that with the many demographic groups in the tank for Obama (in part due to the previous point) and you've got a very high likelihood that this fool of a president will be re-elected. From what I read of goings on in Israel, there are similar problems with liberal lemmings. What to do before all is lost?
The President of the United States has always and will always view and treat Israel as a significant ally, and will support the country. Anyone who believes the contrary is misguided. Obama, Bush, and Clinton may have done some things that seem to irritate Israel and one could argue could cause harm, but Clinton, Bush, Obama, like all presidents past and future, support Israel.
If you love someone, would you leave them out of your a statement of your ideals? I wonder if President Obama loves G_d? If you love someone would you insult their best friend? President Obama insults Israel.
Our purpose in life is to love G_d, right?
Govenor Stickland lost in Ohio because he spent to much and didn't deliver. President Obama will loose for the same reasons. So, there is hope.
sadly no one seems to connect the dots where the anti Israeli feelings are coming from in the Democratic party...it is religion hating gays that have used their economic power to turn that once great party into an American embarrassment...20% of Obama's handlers are gay...they have forced him ( an American president!) to come out in favor of gay marriage and even more astoundingly his backing of installing gay boy scout leaders despite the Sandusky and Catholic Church outrages...the L.A. Times and New York Times are gay led papers who are blatant enemies of Israel and attack them and their policies daily...it is time for Jews to wake up to their secret enemies... the religion hating gays...
The reason Obama is giving Israel all this stuff is as a bribe to give up Jerusalem. He thinks he can thereby save the world, but his pals the Muslims will not be satisfied with that. Having gained their heart's desire (G-d forbid) from a silly man, they will then see that all is possible, all of Israel and if any American infidel should open his mouth in criticism of their equally silly prophet they can push the yellow-bellies even further, at will. Not bowing 5 times a day counts as criticism.