It was so gratifying to read the NY Daily News editorial board’s Thursday editorial headlined: No more, Mr. President: Obama has done enough damage to Israel already.
Reacting to news that President Obama is planning to apply undue pressure on Israel, using the good services of the UN, to succumb to an imposed peace settlement with the PA, the Daily News declared that Obama “must not go further down this path of ego, hubris and vengeance.”
The News editors believe “the President blames Israel in the person of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure of Obama’s attempts to broker a peace deal.” Indeed, they continue, “Obama persistently failed to accept that the Palestinians lack leaders with the courage to end a state of war by accepting Israel’s right to exist.” And they put the blame squarely on Obama’s “destructive asymmetry” which “dismembered decades of American policy in the Middle East.”
For instance, “Obama demanded a deep settlement freeze, without imposing similar conditions on the Palestinians.”
How sweet it is, to see a relatively liberal American newspaper realizing a simple truth which Israel’s right has been crying out for close to eight years now. How is it that thousand of illegal Arab homes are sprouting undeterred in Judea and Samaria, while each time a Jew closes up a porch in Efrat IDF units circle the building with bulldozers at the ready.
“As a result,” the News argues, “Mahmoud Abbas felt no pressure to come to the table. He could rail against Israel — and gain points with his people — without taking risks for peace.”
Now, the paper fears, Obama is determined to do it again, this time at the UN, not only launching open warfare against the Jewish state, but also tying “the hand of his successor, who will have to labor to repair relations with Israel and rebalance the region’s expectations.”
Finally, the paper concludes and we could go over and kiss every one of those nice editors smack on the cheek, “Having failed worse than others, he stands no chance of redemption in the few months left in his administration. His job is over. He needs to leave bad enough alone.”
Thank you, Mr. Zukerman!