Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Gail Collins, "The Luck of the Pontiff": Israel Not Lucky Enough to Merit Another Obama Visit

In her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Luck of the Pontiff" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/opinion/collins-the-luck-of-the-pontiff.html?_r=0), Gail Collins discusses the upcoming visit of Obama with the pope and the decision to move America's Vatican Embassy. Collins writes:

"President Obama is going to visit the pope! He’s been to the Vatican before, but not with this pope, who is perhaps the only person in the world almost everybody likes.

. . . .

The president’s visit, which is scheduled for March, comes at an interesting intersection in the two men’s careers. Pope Francis can currently do no wrong, and Barack Obama can do no right. Recently, his administration decided to move its Vatican Embassy into a more secure building, and the outcry was so intense that you’d think Obama had ordered a re-creation of the Sack of Rome."

"The outcry was so intense that you’d think Obama had ordered a re-creation of the Sack of Rome"? You want a real outcry? See what would happen if the US were to move its embassy in Tel Aviv to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. But of course, that would indeed require a miracle.

However, at a time when Obama is busy dismantling sanctions against Iran in exchange for "concessions" from Tehran that can be reversed in one day (see: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/16/iran-top-nuke-negotiator-deal-reversible-in-one-day.html), and when US Secretary of State Kerry is now telling us that "Everybody is happy to have Iran be helpful” with regard to the upcoming Geneva talks on the civil war in Syria (see: http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Kerry-says-Iran-could-help-with-Syria-peace-talks-337111), only 22% of Israelis trust Obama "to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon" (see: http://www.timesofisrael.com/only-one-in-five-israelis-trusts-obama-on-iran/).

A visit from Obama to assuage Israeli concerns about their survival in the face of ongoing Iranian threats to annihilate their country? No way! Obama is too busy courting Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei and creating a new Middle East order.

[See also: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/washington-post-editorial-on-syria.html]

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