Obama Slaps Israel, Again

 If I could visit with USA’s President Barak Obama, I would say this:

Great speech President Obama, at least at first. Everything was great until you got to Israel and the part where you say Israel should go back to their pre-1967 orders. Ouch. You messed up there.

The beginning of his speech, Obama lauded the rise in the Middle East against repression. He said that the US has pursued a set of core interests in the region including countering terrorism and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, securing the free flow of commerce, safe-guarding the security of the region, standing for Israel’s security, and pursuing Arab-Israeli peace.

He went on to say the things we want to hear from our President:  He said we support a set of universal rights and he described those as free speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, equality for men and women under the rule of law, and the right to choose your own leaders no matter where one lives.

He set his Middle East doctrine by saying that the policy of the United States is to promote reform across the region and to support transitions to democracy.  He said this would be demonstrated with fair elections, a vibrant civil society, accountable and effective democratic institutions, and responsible regional leadership.  He sealed that with the statement, “But our support must also extend to nations where transitions have yet to take place.”  

I really thought this quote was probably the best of the speech:  “We must also build on our efforts to broaden engagement beyond elites, so that we reach the people who will shape the future—particularly young people.”  He nailed it with that.

But then he nailed Israel too.  I was expecting him to say, as was rumored just days up to this speech, that he supported dividing Jerusalem. He totally avoided literally saying that, but went on to say, “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.” That’s where President Obama failed. It was a great speech up until then. By saying this, he included dividing Jerusalem.

First of all, let me state that this stance is no surprise. President Obama wants to see peace in the Middle East, and as a long and growing line of former US Presidents have desired, he wants to be the one who brings it into reality. What he doesn’t understand is the depth and disaster of this approach. Bush didn’t get it either.

Here’s what I and many others who understand the implications for how we treat Israel as clearly defined and expressed by the Prophet Obadiah:

“The day is near when I, the Lord,
      will judge all godless nations!
   As you have done to Israel,
      so it will be done to you.
   All your evil deeds
      will fall back on your own heads. Obadiah 1:15

I can’t help but be reminded of John Kilpatrick’s dream should the United States be involved in the division of Jerusalem.  Obadiah makes it clear that how we treat Israel will reflect back on us. Kilpatrick’s dream? That the United States would be divided by an earthquake through its middle section.

The Palestinian Authority is governed by the terrorists Hamas, and now Fatah, another terrorist group, has joined and both groups are set on Israel’s destruction. How can eliminating the buffer zones of Gaza and the West Bank and Israel yielding up more land provide peace and security for Israel and stability for the region when these groups are bent on Israel’s elimination?

President Obama fell into the myth of referring to the Palestinians as refugees. He doesn’t understand the history of this. The modern spin on this myth is that they are “refugees” from their homeland fighting to get it back. If you look at the facts, Jordan was carved out of Israeli land for Arabs, so they really already have their state. Already, Arabs control 99.9% of Middle Eastern lands, and Israel is struggling to keep 1/10 of 1%. What’s fair? If we look at Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4, God spells out clearly what He expected to be Israel’s territory, "Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates — all the Hittite country — to the Great Sea on the west." The land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile river in Egypt to Lebanon (North to South) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (West to East which includes all of the land that modern Israel currently possesses, plus all of the land of the Palestinians, including the West bank and Gaza, plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God has promised. Some top Palestinians are not admitting that Jordan is Palestine.

Fortunately, there are Godly men and women in the US Congress who do understand all of this, and there’s enough of them that they will dial back President Obama’s liberal Middle East approach and they won’t mince words in doing so.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Obama very soon. Although that will be another tense meeting, Netanyahu will defend his country of Israel.

We must stand with Israel; failure to do so has grave ramifications for the United States and if we would just step back and look at the signs over the last couple of years, signs that seem to be ratcheting tighter, this is definitely not the time to be testing the Bible to see if it’s really true or not.

Here are some other related articles:

Two Myths in the Case for a Palestinian State

The Most Valuable Piece of Real Estate

Is President Obama Anti-Semitic?

Coming to a Map Near You: A Shiny New Palestinian State

Jews and Arabs Will Come Together, Drink a Coke and Live in Harmony

PD