Obama's credibility gap
As Jonathan noted yesterday, Israeli pessimism about renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stems from certain important facts that Americans like to ignore but Israelis find impossible to forget. I’d like to add another fact to his list. You might call it the Turkey problem–specifically, President Barack Obama’s blithe disregard of Turkey’s violation of a deal with Israel that he himself brokered.
Any Israeli-Palestinian agreement would presumably involve certain American guarantees, particularly on security. Washington even assigned a very prominent retired general, former commander in Afghanistan John Allen, “to consult with the Israelis about how the United States can help them meet security challenges posed by a Palestinian state,” as the Washington Post’s David Ignatius put it. But America can’t offer this kind of guarantee anymore, because under Obama, U.S. promises to Israel have repeatedly proven worthless. The Turkish deal is a classic example.
Read it all. If Obama cannot get Erdogan, whom he has described as his best friend in the region, to abide by a deal made with Israel, why should anyone think he can get 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President
And by the way, what if Obama's successor disavows this agreement the way Obama disavowed Bush's agreement with us on building in the 'settlement blocs'? Actions have consequences, and unfortunately, thanks to Obama, the United States' word just isn't what it used to be.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Bush letter, George W. Bush, Mavi Marmara, Middle East peace process, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, settlement blocs, Turkey, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:44 AM
1 Comments:
This really has little to do with Obama. American promises and guarantees have been worthless at least since they made no attempt to keep open the Straits of Tiran in 1967.
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