Barack Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo addressed a global population of 1.3 billion Muslims long outraged at the abuse that Israel has inflicted on its neighbors-with US support. The potential positive impact of that speech was offset when he appeared the next day in Germany at the Buchenwald death camp. The timing of that Holocaust photo-op resolved all doubts about who stage-manages his presidency.
Attention then turned back to newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In mid-May, Obama's handlers allowed this right-winger to proclaim-from the White House-that peace with the Palestinians was a distant second to Israeli concerns about Iran. In a mid-June speech, an emboldened Netanyahu grudgingly mentioned a "two-state solution." Obama quickly portrayed his use of that phrase as an "important step forward."
In truth, that speech announced several giant steps backward. Rather than agree to negotiate a two-state solution, he insisted on preconditions certain to preclude two states, leaving nothing to negotiate. Obama again countered the positive impact from Cairo when he praised a speech that directed Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" where Jerusalem as "Israel's capital will remain united."
Those remarks also proclaimed Israel's right to continue its colonization of Palestinian land by expanding the very settlements that preclude a viable Palestinian state. By applauding Netanyahu's defiant speech, a US president helped inflame the very conditions that have precluded peace in the Middle East for more than four decades.
Anticipating pressure to change, Tel Aviv opened a three-front assault. Foreign Minister Avignor Lieberman (from Moldova) began talks in Moscow (in fluent Russian) to show that Israel could-and readily would-turn elsewhere for a "special relationship." Second, the Israel lobby opened a domestic assault on Obama by announcing, "Jewish leaders are deeply troubled by his recent Middle East initiatives." The lobby also reminded this political product of Chicago-Ashkenazi money where his presidential bread is buttered.
Third, as soon as Middle East envoy George Mitchell opened talks with Syria, the first since the US withdrew its ambassador in 2005, Netanyahu gave a speech with no mention of the Golan Heights and with terms certain to ensure that peace would remain beyond reach.
With no need to cite the Holocaust photo-op, the official Syrian newspaper noted simply, "This is the principle that always guides Israel when approaching the Zionist-Arab conflict. The Israelis see themselves as victims rather than the aggressor."
By again failing to stand up to Tel Aviv and its US lobby, Obama enabled the very conduct that most endangers national security. While his words in Cairo promised a "new beginning," his actions signaled business-as-usual. If this Chicago politician continues to appease Israeli extremists, his behavior may well induce another terrorist attack.
Should that happen, recent history suggests that an orgy of evidence will plausibly point to "Islamo" fascists while Israel again portrays itself as the perennial victim in need of protection in a hostile neighborhood. Absent Obama's proven resolve to expunge "special" from this relationship, this entangled alliance will continue to make the US look guilty by its association with Israel's extremist behavior. There lies the greatest peril to national security.
With his unrepentant remarks, Netanyahu turned a two-state solution back into a bargaining chip. By his insistence on terms that preclude a final settlement, he reconfirmed Tel Aviv's commitment to sustain this conflict. Obama's propensity to blink at time-critical moments suggests he will continue to encourage a course that invites more terrorism-either by Israelis or those provoked by their behavior.
Any objective ranking of this presidency would reveal its disproportionate pro-Israeli staffing. Democrat Harry Truman, a Christian-Zionist, offered nation-state legitimacy to this Zionist enclave. Republican G.W. Bush, also a Christian-Zionist, staffed his presidency the same as Democrat Obama.
This transpartisan insider operation shares an allegiance neither to party nor president but to a common covenant whose faith-based obligations take precedence over US interests. The depth and duration of this disabling bias suggests that the only way to restore national security is to withhold funding for Israel, withdraw our diplomats and reshape our foreign policy around US interests.
Should this president, like his predecessors, continue to perform inconsistent with the national interest, an informed citizenry must remind him why the Framers set a low evidentiary standard for proving treason, requiring only that the accused "adhere" (or grant "aid and comfort") to an enemy-whether domestic or foreign.
Should Dennis Ross, a reliably pro-Israeli diplomat, be removed as US envoy to Iran, that would be the first sign that Obama may yet perform consistent with his constitutional oath to defend this nation. By his repeated refusals to stand up to the Israel lobby-and by reliably blinking under pressure from a tiny minority, this president risks not only US national security but also a personal charge of treason.
