Another Betrayal

Barry gives it his famous intimidating stare down. No dice.

It is no secret that Israel is under constant threat of destruction, that her people are frequently attacked and continually under threat of attack, that her neighbors have attempted to destroy her many times in the past, and with the over-throw of regimes like the Mubarak regime in Egypt the Middle-East has become increasingly unstable, and the only ally and Western style Democracy that can be of help to us in the region is, in fact, Israel.

This all being true, how can President Obama come out one day before the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dictate what Israel must accept, completely disregarding commitments this nation made to Israel just seven years ago? Does he not recall the land for peace deal that was brokered with Ariel Sharon, adopted by their government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005? is he ignorant of how Israel forced its citizens out, but no peace was forthcoming from the Palestinians? What in the world does President Obama mean by treating our ally as he has?

Here is what the Israeli Department of State had to say:

"Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress," the office wrote on Twitter. "Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines."

In preparation for the Gaza strip peace offering, President George W. Bush outlined the U.S. position in a 2004 letter to Ariel Sharon, assuring Israel that the United States would not pressure Israel to return to the old borders that existed before Israel fought the 1967 war. Those boarders were virtually impossible to defend, and invited attack.

The president's letter received the bi-partisan endorsement of the congress, which passed a resolution in the House of Representatives by a vote of 407-9 and in the Senate by a vote of 95-3. Because of this commitment, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon was willing to take the unpopular risk of forcing 9,000 of his fellow Israelis out of their homes in Gaza, allowing the region to promptly fall under the control of Hamas.

Obama has essentially disregarded this commitment, undermining the faith our allies can have in this president and in this nation. In doing so President Obama has done this nation no favors. He has weakend us in the eyes of our friends and in the eyes of our enemies. In addition, he has callously placed in jeopardy the lives of the 350,000 Israelis who live in well-established communities on the “wrong” side of the border to which Obama now demands Israel retreat. Disgraceful.

Mark Steyn discusses it with the help of Hugh Hewitt here. April Gavaza does fine all by herself here, while Bob Belevedere knocks it out of the park here.