(Headline change because this isn't bullying, this is outright, public blackmail.)Jennifer Rubin over at Washington Post has a must-read piece about Barack Obama's betrayal of Israel and his attempt to mouth platitudes to the Jewish American community with his AIPAC speech then from the other side of his mouth tries to bully Israel into destroying itself.
Since the president’s Arab Spring speech, friends of Israel have been nervous about at least two issues: the promise Israel would not have to sit down with those who seek its destruction and the negotiations based on the “1967 borders with land swaps.” This weekend it became apparent that there is much to worry about and that the Obama administration has been playing a game usually practiced by the Palestinians, namely telling its domestic audience one thing and the negotiating parties something different.
Make sure to read the whole thing to understand exactly what Obama is trying to do to Israel.
At the end of her piece is the one thing that can stop Obama in his tracks and given Benjamin Netanyahu's reception by Congress from Democrats and Republicans alike, with 29 standing ovations, Congress may very well fight fire with fire and show Obama that America is Israel's ally despite a president that is doing everything in his power to betray that ally.
I spoke to Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who plainly was angry over the continued effort to bully Israel. He said in a phone interview, “President Obama never learns. His real instinct is to weaken Israel. You don’t treat an ally this way.” He said he has never seen this sort of behavior from any U.S. president. After the apparent “rapprochement” following the Arab Spring speech, King says the current posture is “shameful.” Given the strong support in the Congress for Israel, will there be resolutions or a cutoff of funding for the Palestinians? He said firmly that it is time to start “fighting fire with fire.” In other words, as much as Obama seeks to pressure Israel while whispering vague promises to the American Jewish community, the Congress may very well try to recalibrate the balance. We should at least have one branch of government in our ally’s corner, right?
William Teach at Pirate's Cove sums Obama's blackmail attempt up succinctly:
So, the Obama admin. is extorting Israel by basically saying that unless they accept the 1967 lines as a starting point, they won’t block the Palestinians from getting statehood through the United Nations.
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