The President has the extra added reason for being upset at Israel because of his unwavering strong support. Morally, militarily, and financially So when a President’s goal is peace and he sends his top envoy John Kerry there for weeks at a time trying to get the parties to compromise, I can’t really blame him for being upset at insulting remarks made about Kerry. Israeli leaders were wrong to so vocally criticize him. But in their defense, they knew the futility of Kerry’s Quixotic attempt to somehow broker a peace deal. He was tilting at windmills. They were right for thinking it, but wrong for making their sentiments so public.
That said, I agree with Mr. Stevens. Especially in light of ISIS. His rage against Israel is misdirected to say the least. It is one thing to be insulted at some offhand comments by an Israeli official. I don’t blame him for that. But to express rage at that and at the same time seem so emotionally detached with respect to ISIS – with no strategy to defeat them… well there is something terribly wrong with that.
He seems more concerned about an insult form an ally than he is about the potential of another 9/11 from ISIS. That is a major failure of leadership. The most important job a President has is protecting his people. But while ‘Rome’ is about to burn, the President fiddles. Even liberal Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein has expressed concern that he is overly cautious here (That’s putting it mildly).
I am normally supportive of the President and have defended him on numerous occasions against the canard that he is anti Israel or anti Semitic. He is clearly not. He is in fact very supportive of Israel and the Jewish people, as I said many times. But in this instance, I have to agree with Mr. Stephens. The following is how he ends his article and it is how I will end mine:
Mr. Obama might also read Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit’s assessment of Mr. Kerry’s diplomacy: “The Obama administration,” he wrote in July, “proved once again that it is the best friend of its enemies, and the biggest enemy of its friends.”
Both Haaretz and the New Republic are left-wing publications, sympathetic to Mr. Obama’s intentions, if not his methods.
Still, the president is enraged. At Israel. What a guy.