Unwelcome Truths
Jonathan Tobin posits an accurate analysis of Moshe Yaalon’s “unwelcome truths” concerning Secretary of State Kerry’s “inexplicably obsessive and messianic” efforts to achieve something positive in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts (“Yaalon’s Unwelcome Peace Process Truths,” op-ed, Jan. 24).
With the region engulfed in myriad barbaric and lethal intra-Muslim wars totally unrelated to Israel, it is surely appropriate to question Kerry’s unrelenting pressure on Israel to make concessions to coax the Palestinians to the table. Mahmoud Abbas has not given the slightest hint that the Palestinians will mitigate their maximalist conditions by one iota before they deign to engage in realistic negotiations with Israel.
It is truly regrettable that Yaalon felt obligated to hastily offer his apologies for the overblown “offense” his words may have caused.
Fay Dicker
Lakewood, NJ
Obama’s Foreign Policy (I)
“Amateur Hour at the White House” (editorial, Jan. 24) got it right. I have lived through several administrations but have never seen such transparent ineptitude in foreign policy in a presidency as I have in President Obama’s.
More to the point, presidents – even those who, unlike Obama, are disparaged by the media – are usually able to paper things over to the point that their ineptitude is not necessarily clear to all.
Unfortunately, no amount of cosmetics and obfuscation can conceal President Obama’s international failures. Even his friends in the media have been unable to help him here.
Edward Searles
(Via E-Mail)
Obama’s Foreign Policy (II)
I think it’s time we all rally behind the president. His failures become ours and there is no point in continuously raking him over the coals. He has three years left in his second term and can’t run again. So what difference does it make to him personally whether you or I think he is doing a good job? Shouldn’t we rather avoid anything that emphasizes America’s problems around the world?
Elizabeth Grossman
(Via E-Mail)
Obama’s Foreign Policy (III)
John Kerry is not in a position of being an honest broker in the matter of Israel’s future borders and a proposed Palestinian state. However, he isn’t the one to be blamed.
He represents an administration teetering on the brink of meltdowns on several fronts and Kerry is the messenger, the bearer of what the Obama White House believes is the “magic bullet” that will solve all Middle East issues. Far from providing solutions, Kerry’s package is a poison pill that Benjamin Netanyahu is too wise to swallow.
It is no secret that Obama is on the ropes. His healthcare plan is now anathema to a wide majority of Americans, and scandals such as Benghazi, IRS and NSA have taken their toll. Understandably, he seeks a foreign policy victory, a coup that will rejuvenate his falling poll numbers, but his new recipe is the same old bad dish: Israeli withdrawals and a half-hearted recognition of Israel’s right to exist.
Hizbullah and other terrorists laugh at such agreements and continue to seek what they’ve always sought: the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Myron Hecker
New City, NY
Disney And Jews
Re “Was Walt Disney Really an Anti-Semite?” (op-ed, Jan. 24):
I worked for the Disney Company and met many old timers who were close to Walt Disney. Three were Jewish; none of them mentioned anything about Walt being an anti-Semite.
I hold Walt Disney in very high regard. He loved people…and loved making people happy.
Tony Linn
(Via E-Mail)
The Need For Action
Re “The Torah Never Intended a Get to Be a Weapon” (op-ed, Jan. 3):
What a powerful and compelling article. We as a community have to take action and do more. I wish the rabbanim would make an asifa with compelling directives that we must all take to help these women.