Jeremy Ben Ami of J-Street who was at the meeting between Jewish leaders and President Obama, thought that the President was amazing. In an extremely soft interview Ben Ami recounts:
One is Malcolm Hoenlein’s, and he’s said this publicly, that he feels that history shows us that progress is made on the peace front when Israel and the U.S. are in lockstep and there’s no daylight between them on their position publicly. And the president said ‘With all due respect, I would disagree. For eight years under the prior administration, there was no daylight between the two sides and there was no progress on the peace front, and no hard decisions were confronted, no progress was made.’ He very politely, but very clearly, disagrees with the notion that there shouldn’t be a public space between the Israeli government’s and the U.S. government’s position. I think that’s a very important point.
And the second example would be a question of tone, where there are those in the room who would say that the president has been one-sided in his demands. And that he is only asking things of Israel, and the president really again pushed back, very calmly but firmly, and said no, that he has on every occasion, where he has spoken out publicly, and where the [U.S.] government has taken a position, made it clear that there are obligations and steps that must be taken by Israel, and obligations and steps that must be taken by Palestinians and the broader Arab community. If we’re going to make progress, both sides have to live up to commitments and both sides have to take some steps.
Except that President Obama has been very clear and specific about what he demands of Israel – plus he has reversed American policy regarding the Middle East. He has been rather general about what he asks of the Palestinians and the Arab world. And he hasn’t pushed those requests very hard either.
Martin Peretz, an Obama supporter on most other matters dissents (via memeorandum):
Frankly, I am sick and tired of President Obama’s eldering–more accurately, hectoring–Israel’s leaders. It is, after all, they whose country is the target of an armed and ideological cyclone that Obama has done precious little to ease. He brought nothing back from Riyadh and Cairo, absolutely nothing except the conviction of the Arab leaders that they need do nothing but sit and wait until the president squeezes one concession after another out of Jerusalem. Oops, I apologize. Maybe I should still say Tel Aviv. In any case, waiting is exactly what they are doing. Palestinian President Abbas has prided himself in doing just that.
In a similar vein Bill Kristol writes:
According to the article, Obama told Jewish leaders at the White House yesterday that Israel would need “to engage in serious self-reflection.”
“Serious self-reflection!” It’s really good that Barack Obama is reminding the leaders and people of Israel to engage in that. I hope they’re up to it. After all, what do Israelis know about reflecting on, and living with, the life and death consequences of political decisions? What do Bibi Netanyahu and Ehud Barak and Moshe Ya’alon — either as individuals or as leaders — know about war and peace? These are guys — and the Israelis are a people — who just coast along, taking an easy path, never debating, never thinking, never questioning, never second-guessing…and never making or asking their fellow citizens to make sacrifices.
It’s kind of odd that President Obama would on the one hand claim that it’s a misperception that he is exerting undue pressure on Israel and on the other claim that it’s good that there are differences (or “daylight”) between Israel and the United States. And this is a point that the Orthodox Union made in its statement about the meeting.
However, while the President’s acknowledgment of this perception gap is encouraging, the Orthodox Union remains deeply troubled by the President’s underlying approach – which is to have the U.S. play an “evenhanded” role. The Orthodox Union asks our President to recognize that there are no moral equivalencies between Israel, which has acted time and again to defend itself while actively seeking peace, and those who reject Israel’s legitimacy and make war against her. We look to the United States to be Israel’s friend in a world of enemies and we support the view, expressed to the President in our meeting, that while allies may of course disagree on specifics, there ought not be significant “daylight” between the United States and Israel that would give the nations’ mutual enemies comfort and encouragement.
It is a shame more groups didn’t express these sentiments to the president; it would have served to educate and persuade him of the misguided and unwise course he has chosen to pursue. The president is trying to pass this all off as a “perception” problem, which is odd for a man who prides himself on his communication skills. To be understood so badly and to have so many take away an unintended message is indeed a failure of public diplomacy.
But let’s be honest here. It is more than perception. The president told those in attendance that he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel. In fact, he thinks the failure of the Bush administration consisted of, in essence, providing too much support to our ally Israel. Obama is in the “even-handed” business — as he is with so many international questions.
However Rubin is wrong to wonder why more groups at the meeting didn’t object. President Obama wasn’t reaching out to the Jewish community, he was dictating to it. Malcolm Hoenlein, Steven Savitsky and Abraham Foxman were exceptions at the meeting. Remember three of the groups represented ( J-Street, NJDC and APN) are headed by Democratic party activists. J-Street is an adjunct of the Obama campaign as one of its founders (and funders) is Alan Solomont, who was a major contributor to Obama’s presidential bid.
Peretz and Michael Totten, for example, think that there is growing dissatisfaction among Jews about President Obama’s positions on the Middle East. I hope so. And I hope, that if it’s so, more Jews (and pro-israel Christians) will make that dissatisfaction public. I don’t need Jeremy Ben Ami – someone whose constituency is not much larger than the President’s ear claiming the he speaks for me.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.