Why Obama Won't Talk to Israel

Aluf Benn, Editor at Large of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the most left-leaning and intellectual of the Israeli dailies, yesterday contributed an op-ed to The New York Times, entitled "Why Won't Obama Talk to Israel?". Benn observes that Obama has visited and spoken with almost every country in the world except Israel. Benn appeals to Obama to speak with Israel directly to allay misgivings.

I agree with Benn. Imagine if Obama had gone from Cairo to Jerusalem to Ramallah. This trip would have established Obama as one of today's preeminent statesmen. But he didn't.

Why won't Obama talk to Israel? Has it anything to do with 20 years of invective from his former pastor and dialogues with radical friends? Or, is there a power behind the throne as it pertains to Middle East diplomacy?

The star of Ray Takeyh, an Iranian-American and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has propounded rapprochement with Iran, may have fallen after Iran rejected U.S. courtship, notwithstanding Obama's silence in the aftermath of Iran's "elections". However, Obama's personal strategy of wooing Middle Eastern tyrannies remains intact: It was reported on Monday that the Obama administration is lifting bans on exporting aviation and IT products to Syria, despite the 2005 UN investigation implicating senior Syrian officials in the assassination of Lebanon's former pro-Western prime minister, Rafiq Hariri. All is forgiven and forgotten.

Make no mistake: the current crisis with Israel was manufactured to order. Freeze settlements? A majority of Israelis oppose the settlements, and former Israeli prime ministers Barak and Olmert offered the territories back to the Palestinians, with an exchange of lands where necessary, to achieve peace. If Obama was serious about halting settlement construction, quiet diplomacy would have been more effective.

Israelis are confused by what is intended by Obama's demand for a freeze of settlement construction. Does it include the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem? In 1948 the Arab Legion captured the Jewish Quarter, site of the Wailing Wall, and destroyed centuries-old synagogues. The area adjoining the Wailing Wall became a slum, and Jews were prevented from worshipping there. Forfeit sovereignty and the right to build in the Jewish Quarter? Both the Israeli right and left cannot concede this.

But back to the question of why Obama will not talk to Israel: Examine the pictures taken during the May 18 Obama-Netanyahu meeting. Observe the icy body language, the frozen smiles, the physical distance. These are two people who do not like one another. Now look at Netanyahu's pictures with Hillary from the same visit. Do you see the difference?

Benn correctly observes: "Six months into his presidency, Israelis find themselves increasingly suspicious of Mr. Obama” and "not even the Israeli left, desperate for a new agenda, has adopted Mr. Obama as its icon." I would only add that in times of crisis, the Israeli left and right, ordinarily at one another's throats, join together to face existential threats. Life goes on in Israel as always, but somewhere in their collective psyche, Israelis are cognizant that they are again facing extinction, this time from Iran, and that they can expect no help from Obama.