Calling for an uprising in Pakistan does not seem like a great idea.
If the President told young Palestinians in Ramallah to demand that the P.A. “take risks” in “voices louder than” the opposition, it is likely that the Fatah government of Mahmoud Abbas would fall to the more radical and more popular Hamas. After years of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic indoctrination in the schools and the general media, it is not realistic to believe that Palestinians desire what the President told Israelis to desire: “A future in which Jews, Muslims and Christians can all live in peace and greater prosperity in this Holy Land.” And maybe that is why the President did not say it to the Palestinians.
President Obama, perhaps inadvertently, made the case for U.S.-Israel relations grounded in the most fundamental shared values. Israel — like the United States — is that rare country in which the government does not fear the protest of the people, and the people do not fear protesting.
Originally published at the Gatestone Institute under the title, “Calling for Protest in Israel.”