A column in the Washington Post claimed that the Obama administration is the most “anti-Israel in history” and a “disloyal, unhelpful ally” to the Jewish state.
In her oped, conservative writer Jennifer Rubin asserts that the administration’s implicit support for recent anti-Israel measures by the European Union attests to its betrayal of Israel.
The European Union on Monday announced that all future deals with Israel must be “unequivocally and explicitly” considered inapplicable to the disputed territories, including the West Bank. This follows the E.U.’s decision to label Israeli goods made in the West Bank.
Rubin writes that the administration agreed with both moves, as confirmed by State Department spokesman John Kirby’s remarks on Tuesday that included the claim that the legislation was in no way a boycott.
Rubin lists other examples of the administration’s attitude toward its ally, including Obama’s obvious dislike for Israel’s elected government, the U.S.’s disregard of the Iranian threat to Israel,, its condemnation of Israel’s “defense in the Gaza war (which inevitably harmed civilians used as terrorist shields), and high-pressure tactics in the moribund ‘peace process.'”
Regarding the E.U. labels, Rubin quotes Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute: “This is completely consistent with all the administration’s other policies hostile to Israel. Labeling goods made by Israeli businesses in disputed territories but not goods made in other disputed territories like Kashmir, for example, is an example of blatant anti-Semitism.”
She continued, “’And while the administration would surely argue that forcing Jews to wear yellow stars is not a sign of discrimination but merely a diktat about clothing, it should be clear to Jews everywhere that the 1930s are returning.’ (Let’s not forget that Secretary of State John Kerry has previously hinted that the U.S. would not be able to protect Israel from boycotts if it did not make more concessions to the Palestinians.)”
Even after an open letter was signed by 36 senators urging the E.U. to reconsider its discriminatory policy and a bipartisan resolution introduced in the House to condemn the E.U.’s “deeply disturbing behavior,” Rubin notes that condemnation of the administration from Democrats was not forthcoming.
“If the E.U.’s action was worth condemning, all the more so for [Democrats] to speak up about the Obama administration.”
The latest development in the U.S.’s “pattern of consistent antagonism towards its ally” are the remarks made by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro. In the wake of two stabbing attacks in which a Palestinian terrorist killed a mother of six and another Palestinian assailant stabbed a pregnant woman, Shapiro castigated Israel’s response to the violence as “unchecked,” leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call the ill-timed remark “unacceptable and wrong.”
Rubin concludes, “The Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy has been a nightmare for the U.S.-Israel relationship, but moreover, has signaled to friends and foes alike that the United States is a disloyal, unhelpful ally. After all, if this is how the United States treats its closest Middle East ally, Israel, what country can expect anything better?”