Memorable Words

How many Americans understand that when Israel was founded in 1948, no Palestinian state was invaded, no Palestinian state was destroyed? There had not been a Palestinian geographic entity since between the departure of the Romans and the arrival of British rule.

How many know that the West Bank, referred to by the president as "occupied territory," inferentially as occupied Palestinian territory, is under international law [an] unallocated portion of the Palestine Mandate rightfully occupied by Israel, because it occupied it in repelling aggression that came from that territory in 1967? [Applause]

How the president believes that if we return to the 1967 borders, the antipathy to Israel, which predated the 1967 borders, will disappear, I do not know.

George Will

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But friends of Israel, especially those Jewish Democrats who have been doing their best to ignore the White House’s increasingly belligerent tone toward the Jewish state, would do well to note what happened this week. Obama honored one of the most virulent enemies of Israel—someone who bears a great deal of responsibility for Durban, one of the most disgraceful episodes in the history of an institution—the UN—which is no stranger to disgrace. He has gotten away with it with hardly a scratch on his reputation. Though some will dismiss this incident as a mere blunder that will soon be forgotten, I doubt that Obama and his advisers will forget how easily they were able to dismiss a nearly universal Jewish dismay.

The president and his foreign-policy team are preparing what we are told is a new Middle East peace plan and a peace conference that will attempt again to bludgeon Israel into making concessions to Palestinians that are uninterested in peace. The administration is also still committed to “engagement” with Iran’s despotic Islamist regime and continues to appear uninterested in any serious effort to stop Tehran from gaining nuclear capability.

If anyone thinks the administration can be deterred from taking future stances that are clearly invidious to the security of Israel, the Robinson episode may well have taught Obama that he can get away with anything when it comes to Jewish Democrats. There were some who may have thought Robinson’s award would prove to be Obama’s Bitburg moment—a symbolic episode that forever tarnished Ronald Reagan’s reputation even among his most ardent Jewish supporters. Instead, it may turn out to be a trial run for far worse outrages yet to come.

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..on the Mary Robinson fiasco. Whether it becomes a “tipping point” for the American Jewish community in political allegiance is not yet clear. But it marked a sharp departure in the behavior and, I think, perception of mainstream Jewish organizations. A combination of support for Obama’s liberal domestic agenda, a desire to maintain access to the White House, and a heavy dose of wishful thinking had contributed to an almost total absence of sharp public criticism of the White House’s increasingly hostile stance toward Israel.

No more. The inhibition has been broken with the recognition now dawning on Jewish Democrats that this is a president lacking in affection and respect for Israel and for the sensibilities of pro-Israel voters. The aversion to conflict with the administration has been overcome, and I suspect the administration won’t face as pliant a Jewish community in the future.

And for those Democratic lawmakers who present themselves as friends of Israel but remain mute when outrage is piled upon outrage, they will find themselves in an increasingly perilous spot. If they claim to be friends and defenders of the Jewish state, they too will be expected to speak up. And if not, supporters of Israel will look to others who don’t place partisan politics above principle.

As for the president, he shows no sign of self-reflection. His worldview is certain and his determination to create that “daylight” between Israel and the U.S. won’t be lessened by this episode. But thanks to Mary Robinson, there is also daylight between Israel’s supporters and the White House.

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