Israel Matzav

Obama's cheap shot

Last Wednesday, President Obama told Channel 2 news anchor Yonit Levy that Israelis are 'suspicious' of him "because my middle name is Hussein." (Am I the only one who recalls that during the election campaign it was forbidden to mention that his middle name was Hussein, until he won the election and it suddenly became chic?)

The response from most of official Israel and the American Jewish community was silence. It's as if it was forbidden for anyone in an official position to refute the slander that Israelis are racists. But that didn't stop New York Republican Peter King (Hat Tip: Jennifer Rubin).

President Obama’s statement that Israelis are suspicious of him in part because his middle name is Hussein was a “cheap shot” that belittles Israelis’ real problems with White House policies, said Rep. Pete King.

“That’s a terrible cheap shot,” King (R-L.I.) told The Mouth. “And if he wants to get cute about it, King Hussein of Jordan was one of the best allies Israel ever had.”

King says that Obama has problems with Israelis because he made drew a moral equivalency between Israel and Iran, treated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poorly, and directed more favorable attention to the Muslim world with such efforts as his speech to Cairo.

...

[H]is middle name “has nothing to do with it,” King said. “The fact is that his policies from day one have had an anti-Israel overtone…. He has no one to blame but himself. He should forget his name — that’s just a cheap game and he should knock it off.”

If only our 'leaders,' in Israel and abroad, had the courage to wipe the smirk off Obama's face and tell him to knock it off.

But then if our 'leaders' had the courage to stand up to Obama, 78% of American Jewry might not have voted for him in the first place.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:54 AM