LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Israelis mistrust Obama’s policies

Samuel Appelbaum, Los Angeles

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.

Thanks to Brian Greenspun for his insightful column in last Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun headlined “U.S. can’t squander the trust of Israelis.”

Having just returned from Israel, I want to confirm the accuracy of Mr. Greenspun’s comments. Across the political spectrum, Israelis mistrust the Obama approach to Middle East peace; fear a breach with the United States, by far Israel’s most reliable friend and ally (at least until now); and resent the notion that Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) should become judenrein.

Israel voluntarily withdrew from Lebanon, and rockets rained down on the north of Israel. Israel voluntarily withdrew from Gaza (uprooting thousands of Jews in the process), and rockets rained down on the south of Israel.

If Israel withdraws (or is expelled by international pressure) from Judea and Samaria, is there any doubt that rockets will soon rain down on the center of Israel, on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport?

The affection Israelis have for Americans, and the powerful loyalty most Americans, including tens of millions of Christian Zionists, have for Israel, will survive the depredations and foolishness of the Obama administration.

Whether the Jewish state itself can survive is another question entirely.

The writer is a member of the Western Regional Board of the Zionist Organization of America.

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

By SgtRock

7/5/09 at 7:45 a.m.

Suggest removal

There is a significant portion of the Democratic Party (if not a majority) that thinks that Israeli state is one of the most evil governments on the planet.

For decades, Obama hanged around those people. Just look at his spiritual mentor, that man has spoken ill of the Israeli government often and even Obama's church in Chicago had Hamas anti-Israel flyers in its lobby.

I completely understand why Jewish voters vote Democratic because of their socialist beliefs. I think its is misguided. They should push for the community to help the community and not the government.

But they have to understand they are empowering the Obama's and Carter's of the world which are not exactly friends of Israel. That they are empowering other people in the Democratic party that would love to see the destruction of the Israeli government and the concept of a Jewish state thrown into the trash can of history.

I guess it is a question of priorities. It is more important to have a socialist government in the USA or it is more important to have a Jewish state to survive? If the Jewish voter believes that socialism is more important then why in the heck is the USA putting its life and money on the line to protect Israel if it is not that important?
By neiman1

7/5/09 at 8:11 a.m.

Suggest removal

How did the terrorist in the middle east become the hero of the democratic party? Before this he was only the hero of Bill Ayers and company.
By Future

7/5/09 at 11:56 a.m.

Suggest removal

Did you heard the Joke where Obama sends Biden to the Middle East to tell Isreal they have a green light to bomb Iran.
By zerstuckelung

7/5/09 at 12:49 p.m.

Suggest removal

You can't seriously believe that dismantling those settlements will pose an existential threat to Israel. If so, to what purpose does Israel maintain its nuclear arsenal? Those weapons and Israel's overwhelming conventional superiority should suffice as a guarantee of its continued existence.

So much of the commentary on Mr. Greenspun's article seems to stipulate some vague obligation for the US' continued subsidy for some ill-considered and religiously motivated settlement of the West Bank (biblical "Judea and Samaria). This is not clearly the case. Israel is free to advance its national interest as it sees fit; if a plurality of the Israeli electorate feels that annexation and settlement of "Judea and Samaria" advances those interests they are free to undertake the endeavor (although one wonders where the Arabs now in possession of the land will go--and how they will get there). They mustn't expect American taxpayers to underwrite such foolishness, however.

By all accounts, there is apparently a wider spectrum of opinions in Israel proper than would be apparent from the range of opinions that have appeared on the pages of the Sun.