President Obama recently took one of the most anti-Israeli actions ever taken by a US president. With other major stories dominating US news coverage, this important item got overlooked, but I wanted readers of this blog to know about it.
Obama arbitrarily “ordered” the state and defense departments to “suspend any Israeli request for weapons or other military supplies” (see first link). His action contradicts the clear will of the US Congress which has routinely approved such arms shipments to Israel and it runs very opposite to US public opinion which has always supported the Israelis in their actions against Hamas, which the US has labeled a terrorist entity. Obama’s executive action was so sweeping and presumptuous that he “issued a directive that any Israeli request, regardless of size, would require his approval.” Taken at face value, it means the Israelis can’t receive a single bullet from the USA without the approval of Obama himself. The second link adds more information on this story and examines the growing tensions between the US and Israel. It also mentions the British government is taking a more anti-Israel position in sending weapons to the Israelis.
My first reaction is that Obama is acting as if he is a king instead of president who must implement the actions of the US Congress as the Constitution sets forth. My second reaction is that since this action only helps Hamas and those who wish to attack or eliminate Israel as a Jewish nation, has Obama tipped his hand that he is secretly pro-Hamas? Can you think of any other explanation? Obama’s action reverses the entire foreign policy history of the USA on Mideast politics. Obama’s action gives great aid and comfort to Hamas. Obama’s very hostile action against a long-standing US ally must leave all US allies around the world in severe doubt of whether the USA can ever again be trusted by any ally as long as Obama is president. In a recent TV round-table discussion on foreign policy on cable-TV, I heard respected commentator Charles Krauthammer state the USA is becoming “irrelevant” in foreign policy matters under Obama’s weak and indecisive actions. That discussion focused on the Mideast, but it could be applied worldwide.
Another consequence of Obama’s bizarre action is that the Israelis will have to accelerate their efforts to find new trustworthy weapons suppliers. Some immediate candidates come to mind. Since Germany has supplied Israel with state-of-the-art Dolphin submarines for the Israeli navy, Germany is a likely candidate to be a new weapons supplier to Israel. Another option is the possibility that Israel will pursue more joint weapons-development programs with India. A third and obvious consequence is that the Israelis will build a greater domestic weapons production base. Israel can already make tanks, warplane supplies, drones and many other types of weapons. It would boost the Israeli domestic economy to employ more Israelis in good-paying weapons production factories instead of being dependent on a now unreliable US defense industry for vital weaponry.
The biggest loser in Obama’s action is the reputation of Obama himself. Whatever credibility he had left on the world scene has surely evaporated as he acts in an increasingly strange and confusing manner in his decisions. Another huge loser is the entire US weapons-production industry which could permanently lose a lot of business in future years if Obama’s bizarre action is allowed to stand. How can any foreign purchaser of US weaponry rely on receiving their ordered weaponry if a president can arbitrarily cancel any foreign weapons contract when the whim strikes him? The US Congress, whenever it returns from its latest vacation, should countermand Obama’s action by passing a Congressional law undoing Obama’s anti-Israeli action.
There is a growing possibility that the Republicans will take the US Senate in the fall congressional elections (third link). If that happens, it is possible the US House (if it stays GOP-controlled as predicted) could impeach Obama, the Senate could approve his impeachment and that would make Vice-President Biden the new US president. I’m no fan of Biden, but at least I regard him as rational. He would be an improvement over the loose cannon now sitting in the White House oval office. Obama’s anti-Israeli (and anti-Jewish) action can only hurt Democrats in the fall election. Most Jews typically vote Democratic and Jewish donors traditionally fund Democrat candidates. Obama’s very anti-Israeli (and, consequently, anti-Jewish) action which helps Hamas can only alienate Jewish voters (and all US voters who support the Israelis) from Democrat candidates. Why should Jews vote for or fund the Democratic Party’s candidates when its leader is acting in such a strikingly anti-Israeli manner? The USA is in growing danger from Obama’s bizarre decisions and presumptuous executive actions. He is alienating and offending US allies, making the entire world suspicious of him and untrusting of the USA under his leadership.
Biblically, it is clear that the Israelis will not be eliminated as a nation. The Jewish nation will endure and remain as a Jewish nation in the old Promised Land. Zephaniah 2:1-1 and Zechariah 12 and 14 all cite God’s assurances that he will protect the independence and survival of “Judah,” the Israeli Jewish nation, in the latter days. Indeed, Zechariah 12:3 God declares he will protect the Jewish Israeli nation “though all the people of the earth be gathered against it.” That is a powerful guarantee.
- http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/08/15/furious-obama-blocked-arms-deliveries-israel-state-dept-approved-july-request/
- http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/08/14/Obama-Reportedly-Blocks-Israel-Missile-Shipment
- http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/26/republicans-gaining-momentum-in-race-for-control-senate/
