Obama Showed His Staunch Support for Israel During Pillar of Defense

Jason Berger — November 27, 2012 – 2:25 pm | Barack Obama | Israel Comments (0) Add a comment

Throughout the 2012 presidential election, the Republican Party wrongfully smeared President Barack Obama’s Israel record with outrageous charges and wild speculation.

Despite these baseless attacks, the President has once again proved that he stands with Israel. Throughout the latest crisis with Hamas, Obama did everything possible to support Israel and bring a swift end to the fighting.

Over the past week, Israeli and American journalists have recognized and hailed the Obama Administration’s actions. Last Monday, Haaretz’s Barak Ravid tweeted, “If funding iron dome is Obama’s way of throwing Israel under the bus, I am praying he will throw us under a train.”

Ravid also wrote an article praising Obama’s support:

The U.S. attitude during the Gaza operation was perhaps the clearest showcase of American support for Israel since Obama took office four years ago…. After a long time during which Obama had been depicted by his political rivals at home, and at times by Netanyahu confidants, as pro-Palestinian and as having ‘thrown Israel under the bus,’ the president proved that his support for Israel was unstinting.

Elsewhere, other writers applauded Obama’s efforts while also criticizing the right for doubting the President’s pro-Israel resolve. Jeffery Goldberg posted on his blog, “I’m waiting for Obama’s critics on the right to acknowledge that he has backed Israel unequivocally since this mess started. And I suppose I will continue waiting.”

Truman Security Partner and President Emeritus of Democrats for Israel Los Angeles Andrew Lachman and Tablet’s Adam Chandler also weighed in.

Lachman wrote:

If President Obama was the ‘most anti-Israel President ever’ then this would be the safest time for him to ignore Israel’s call for help and let the Arab nations in the United Nations crack down on Israel. However, that is not what has happened.

Less than two weeks after the conclusion of a United States Presidential campaign that saw unprecedented attempts to partisanize support for Israel, President Obama’s conduct in support of Israel’s right to defend itself from Gaza rocket attacks has gone far beyond what any predecessor has ever done in supporting Israel.

Four years ago, when Operation Cast Lead was initiated, President Bush issued a statement that the United States backed Israel’s right to self defense and asked that the Israelis do all they could to avoid civilian casualties. President Obama has done far more for Israel during this crisis:

First, the Iron Dome anti-rocket system that has intercepted nearly 88% of the rockets coming out of Gaza was underwritten by American military aid under President Obama, who tripled funding to take the Israeli system from a single battery to multiple batteries protecting cities such as Ashkelon, Tel Aviv, Sderot and Jerusalem ... While U.S funding of Israeli purchase of American weapons systems may be common, funding Israeli-designed systems such as Iron Dome is not and few Presidents have chosen to expand budget expenditures like this.

Second, the Obama Administration has joined with Britain, France and Germany to block any attempts to use the United Nations to condemn Israel’s acts of self defense and insisting that the reign of rocket terror from Gaza must stop….

Third, President Obama has stated clearly and unequivocally that Hamas alone must stand down from its use of rockets against Israel in order for there to be a cease fire. Not only did he tell Israel this, he told Egypt this as well, insisting that President Morsi play a role in reigning in Hamas and reiterating Israel’s right to self-defense from Hamas’ unwarranted and unprovoked attacks. The President and Vice President have been in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu every day receiving briefings from Netanyahu directly and coordinating efforts to reach a cease-fire.

Praise from US pro-Israel groups has been strong. AIPAC praised President Obama as well as Congressional leaders in both parties for passing strong resolutions supporting Israel’s right to defend itself without reservation, stating that, ‘these statements demonstrate that America continues to firmly stand with Israel and her right to defend herself.’

Chandler too was clear with his criticism of the right and his approval Obama. He stated:

Well, here we are, post-election. Doomsday! Just mere weeks after the election, no one expected that Obama’s first real test on Israel would come quite so quickly and under such frightening circumstances. But it did. And throughout Operation Pillar of Defense, President Obama acted like a pro-Israel president would. 

** Update November 30, 2012 **

Rabbinical Assembly President Rabbi Gerald Skolnik wrote in The Jewish Week:

I begin by pausing for a moment to acknowledge—with gratitude—the unequivocally supportive statements that were issued by President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the White House press secretary, and many others in the Obama administration. I hope that those who have spent the past few months using Israel as a wedge issue between Jews and Democrats and vilifying the President as, to put it benignly, ‘no friend of Israel,’ took note of the clear and unconditional support that all members of the Obama administration offered for Israel throughout the campaign. There was no evidence of Mr. Obama acting in any way other than we would want a steadfast ally to act. The President did and said exactly what Israel needed and wanted him to. In light of his having had to endure the most egregious and gratuitous lashon harah as regards his Middle East policy, I would suggest that not only did the President pass this test, but he passed it graciously and courageously, and with flying colors. Thank you for that support, Mr. President. 

Fox News’ Juan Williams wrote:

Republicans who doubted President Obama’s commitment to the security of Israel have been proven wrong by the president’s steadfast support of Israel in this crisis.

Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, made this point in a post on his official Facebook page last week

‘The president repeatedly upheld Israel’s right to defend itself and placed the blame of the violence entirely on Hamas. The people of Israel thank Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her tireless efforts to broker a ceasefire and to enhance security in our region. And the people of Israel want to thank the president and Congress for their generous backing of Iron Dome, Israel’s revolutionary anti-missile system that intercepted more than 400 terrorist rockets.’

The outgoing Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has even said of President Obama’s first term, ‘I can hardly remember a better period of American support and backing, and Israeli cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us than what we have right now.’

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee made a similar statement before the presidential election, saying ‘President Obama and the bipartisan, bicameral congressional leadership have deepened America’s support for Israel in difficult times.’

This praise makes Mitt Romney’s claim during the campaign that President Obama ‘threw Israel under the bus’ look all the more laughable.

** Update December 6, 2012 **

Former Republican House candidate Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told The Daily Beast:

I believe in values, and you show gratitude when it is due and you give credit where it is due. President Obama has been phenomenal on Israel since the election and he has thus far shown… The Jewish community owes president Obama a phenomenal debt of gratitude. There were many of us who were concerned that based on him not having to face the electorate again that he would not be as supportive and in fact he’s gone in the opposite direction. This time in Gaza with Israel’s response, he didn’t say things like ‘we’d like to see restraint on the part of Israelis’—he allowed Israel to defend itself unequivocally. 

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