http://ulstermanbooks.com/d-c-whispers-due-respect-israel-require-approval/Yesterday, Barack Obama spoke briefly regarding his belief that Israel had every right “to defend itself” against rocket attacks. The president did not mention the terrorist organization Hamas in his statements, instead only focusing on the rockets and not the people responsible for firing those rockets into Israel. It now appears the motivation for Barack Obama’s words was a quickly devised effort to get in front of the events now taking place today – namely Israel’s military invasion into Palestine in an effort to deal a debilitating blow to Hamas directly. President Obama’s seeming, albeit briefly spoken, support of Israel was in fact the result of the administration’s fear of looking impotent regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“With all due respect Mr. President, Israel requires neither your support or approval to defend itself.”
______________________
The relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu has long been a chilly, and at times, openly contentious one. According to sources in D.C., that chill worsened considerably in recent days as the Israeli leader has all but ignored repeated requests from the Obama administration to focus on peace talks rather than military action against Palestinian militants.
This unofficial impasse resulted in a personal phone call by Barack Obama to Benjamin Netanyahu 48 hours earlier. The conversation between the two leaders was both brief and intense, with the American president warning the prime minister any provocation against Palestine would not be well received by his administration. This is said to have elicited the following response from Prime Minister Netanyahu:
“With all due respect Mr. President, Israel requires neither your support or approval to defend itself.”
This in turn led to a decision by those around Barack Obama that he must initiate a public statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would not make it appear as if Israel was indifferent to the administration’s input and desires. In essence then, President Obama’s words on the subject yesterday was an attempt to salvage his and his administration’s own alleged influence and credibility on the world stage.
If so, it appears the Obama administration remains in denial as to just how indifferent the world has become regarding both it, and the president.
Posted byulsterman
July 17, 2014
________________________
