As an addendum to Henry Norr’s post about NPR above, I’d register the fact that tonight I heard Tom Ashbrook’s show On Point, in which David Gergen of the Kennedy School, Jack Beatty of the Atlantic, and a fellow from the Dallas Morning-News called Bill McKenzie discussed the Netanyahu contretemps. The amazing thing about the conversation is that the set-to was generally portrayed as a horrible thing (rather than a good thing for Palestinian freedom, or a necessary thing) and woe is me, when can the two countries get over it. This sort of tone was never adopted when we were talking about France. It was like we’re married to Israel. No thanks.
The second impression was that as soon as the Ashbrook threw open the call line, both callers said, We’re sick of Israel, in so many words. Israel sets our foreign policy, said one. The other said, Petraeus says, they’re endangering us. The American street, as I keep saying, is r*psh*t. And the elite commentators don’t get it.
Then the worst moment of the whole broadcast came after the calls, when first Beatty then Gergen asserted that Barack Obama can have little influence over the Israeli polity because his popularity there is so low.
Little influence over a country whose entire foreign policy is built on American support? Little influence over a country that has done nothing to mend fences with its neighbors because it can always call its rich uncle to veto Security Council resolutions? We vetoed 5 such resolutions in UN Human Rights Council in the last few days!!! Little influence over a country that gets $3 billion from us? I beg your pardon. Where is the great American independent streak. These guys are craven.
I guess that means the U.S. can do little to get Iran to drop its nuclear program, right?
For those peace loving self respecting Iranians – start to migrate now to Britain…After all this nation has the greatest accountability to this war in ME. They reestablished the Jewish State in a virtually good international will…Then by sheer conceit they created Jordan out of Israel’s territory to appease the Arabs leaving out the Palestinians Arabs in Israel…now they trying to bully Israel…I donot know how would they face the Final Judge before the Great White Throne… the Original Iranians were so kind with the Jews in the days of the Persian kings… now they become bitter enemies when they Iran become Islamic….This proved the God of Islam is entirely different from the God of Israel…Let ‘clear’ Iran out of its good people….
The coolness of the Americans against the nuclear buildup seemed foreboding. For this provides one very exceptionally good justification to drop one in Iran later!
Israel cannot be bullyed by Obama. Pres. Obama knows his eternal peril over this matter…US Presidency maybe just a peak of human frivolity, but just a passage of time…What is important to him personally is his great responsibility to the Great Being that put him in such peak of authority over a mighty nation…Whom he will be accountable forever…Besides, it was written God retrieves power from those who make their administration meaningless… (Deuteronomy 32:36)
Previous attempts to unseat Israeli Prime Ministers and replace them with more flexible alternatives include: Bush pere’s success in removing Shamir in 92 and replacing him with Rabin and Bill Clinton’s success in removing Netanyahu in 99 and replacing him with Barak. If Obama seeks to replace Netanyahu, Israeli public opinion is not irrelevant. That’s why I feel that Obama should have visited Israel soon after the Cairo speech of last June and clarified his position in person. Maybe he feels there is no need to curry favor with the Israeli center (or that it would hurt him too much with the Arab world to do so.)
Not with Rahmbo standing behind his back with a knife, proverbially speaking.
“(or that it would hurt him too much with the Arab world to do so.)”
I don’t think he’d have trashed the Goldstone Report if he cared that much . His rhetoric on the I/P conflict has been consistent with that of most Democrats–settlements need to stop, Palestinian violence (never Israeli) has to stop. There’s only a conflict now because Netanyahu is an arrogant idiot. Though to be fair to Netanyahu, given that he has Congress on his side, it’s not clear he’s really being all that stupid.
Donald- So why do you think Obama did not visit Israel after the Cairo speech? Did he really think that a visit to Buchenwald would suffice? I think it was a major mistake if he wanted the Israeli center to understand where he’s coming from.
what’s all this talk of the israel center? or unseating Israeli Prime Ministers for that matter. . would that be your advice for thwarting iran’s nuclear ambitions also? should obama go to iran and try to curry favor with the public? when the US is serious about regime change we don’t do it by flying our president in to make speeches to the public.
did you read the post? ‘We vetoed 5 such resolutions in the last few days!!! Little influence over a country that gets $3 billion from us?’ we don’t need israeli permission to take action.
wondering J, why do you think Obama has not visited China or Africa since becoming president?
Until the arabs cut off relations and OIL from the usa…nothing will change…..organized jewry will continuie to control the usa CONGRESS….always in thier favor….sorry George Washington….most Americans dont like any passionate attachment to a foriegn country…however some humans just can never ever change thier strips
Gergen et al are both expressing the “party line” and “political correctness” (polite people don’t say certain things, you know) and protecting their jobs, clout, connections, access-in-high-places (ditto) (NB: just like NPR, just like Ethan Bronner), but also expressing what they believe, not without reason, to be a political fact: the president–so far from being the most powerful man in the world–is essentially powerless because be must live with (there’s a marriage for you!) the so-far-unreconstructed Congress.
The callers (or the callers together with the screeners–please do not forget Ashbrook’s call screeners) show that some USers are “getting it”. They are talking back, “speaking truth to power.” Ashbrook let them “speak”. But Gergen et cie. cannot “hear” them. The time is not yet right for that.
I love your comment about the US split with France. So spot on. No regrets there! As I recall it, France opposed a proposed episode of active USA militarist imperialism and we got “freedom fries”. Israel, by contrast, like the USA, never saw a war it didn’t like, especially if the USA is fighting “for” Israel.
Odd thing, though. I recall a time (was it Clinton?) when the USA decided to do a really, really vicious and stupid thing, to bomb a chemical or pharmaceutical factory in (?) Libya , Sudan (?) and had to fly its planes all the way from Germany without crossing any European country (they all refused permission for over-flight) (and US planes flew way around via Gibraltar, in fact). MY QUESTION IS: Why couldn’t we make some use of Israel, our battleship in the Mediterranean? Our great ally? Our friend? Don’t they have bombers of their own? Hmmm? And no quesetions were ever asked. Someone should ask Gergen et al. about that incident.
Gergen is like The Cat In The Hat; his work is always within a very limited vocabulary and acceptable notions of the status quo when it comes to anything Israel. He’s hence assured of his popular job and he represents children.
RE: “first Beatty then Gergen asserted that Barack Obama can have little influence over the Israeli polity because his popularity there is so low.” – Weiss
ME: Protect Obama from AIPAC on Israeli Settlement Expansion
AIPAC lobbyists are demanding that Congress pressure Obama back down from his opposition to Israeli settlement expansion. Urge your representatives in Congress to support President Obama’s opposition to Israeli settlement expansion.
TO SEND E-MAIL – link to justforeignpolicy.org
when is the last time Gergen mattered? er, never