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Obama: US must criticize Israel if it is to defend it

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Well said Mr. President; a good friend must speak hard truths.

Obama: US must criticize Israel if it is to defend it | The Times of Israel

President Barack Obama defended his fierce criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the March elections in Israel, arguing that such criticism lends him credibility when defending the Jewish state in international arenas, and rejected attempts to equate his criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. Obama, in a wide-ranging interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, said that his criticism of Netanyahu, who on election day warned in a frantic video that Israel’s Arab citizens were streaming to the polls “in droves,” related to the very “nature of the friendship between the United States and Israel.” He also said that comments such as Netanyahu’s have “foreign-policy consequences.” That criticism, which rattled the already fraught relationship between the two governments, was due to Netanyahu straying from “the very language of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which explicitly states that all people regardless of race or religion are full participants in the democracy,” said Obama, who also took Netanyahu to task for asserting in the run-up to the election that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch.

Both statements by the prime minister appeared geared to rally right-wing voters, although the comment about Arab voters was also widely criticized as racist. Days after the comments were made, the prime minister apologized while speaking to a group of representatives of the Arab community who he invited to his office. Obama at the time slammed Netanyahu for his remarks, saying they were “contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions,” and that it “erodes the name of democracy in the country.” “When something like that happens, that has foreign-policy consequences, and precisely because we’re so close to Israel, for us to simply stand there and say nothing would have meant that this office, the Oval Office, lost credibility when it came to speaking out on these issues,” he told Goldberg on Tuesday. “And when I am then required to come to Israel’s defense internationally, when there is anti-Semitism out there, when there is anti-Israeli policy that is based not on the particulars of the Palestinian cause but based simply on hostility, I have to make sure that I am entirely credible in speaking out against those things, and that requires me then to also be honest with friends about how I view these issues. “My hope is that over time the debate gets back on a path where there’s some semblance of hope and not simply fear, because it feels to me as if, if all we are talking about is based from fear,” he said.
 
Well said Mr. President; a good friend must speak hard truths.

Obama: US must criticize Israel if it is to defend it | The Times of Israel

President Barack Obama defended his fierce criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the March elections in Israel, arguing that such criticism lends him credibility when defending the Jewish state in international arenas, and rejected attempts to equate his criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. Obama, in a wide-ranging interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, said that his criticism of Netanyahu, who on election day warned in a frantic video that Israel’s Arab citizens were streaming to the polls “in droves,” related to the very “nature of the friendship between the United States and Israel.” He also said that comments such as Netanyahu’s have “foreign-policy consequences.” That criticism, which rattled the already fraught relationship between the two governments, was due to Netanyahu straying from “the very language of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which explicitly states that all people regardless of race or religion are full participants in the democracy,” said Obama, who also took Netanyahu to task for asserting in the run-up to the election that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch.

Both statements by the prime minister appeared geared to rally right-wing voters, although the comment about Arab voters was also widely criticized as racist. Days after the comments were made, the prime minister apologized while speaking to a group of representatives of the Arab community who he invited to his office. Obama at the time slammed Netanyahu for his remarks, saying they were “contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions,” and that it “erodes the name of democracy in the country.” “When something like that happens, that has foreign-policy consequences, and precisely because we’re so close to Israel, for us to simply stand there and say nothing would have meant that this office, the Oval Office, lost credibility when it came to speaking out on these issues,” he told Goldberg on Tuesday. “And when I am then required to come to Israel’s defense internationally, when there is anti-Semitism out there, when there is anti-Israeli policy that is based not on the particulars of the Palestinian cause but based simply on hostility, I have to make sure that I am entirely credible in speaking out against those things, and that requires me then to also be honest with friends about how I view these issues. “My hope is that over time the debate gets back on a path where there’s some semblance of hope and not simply fear, because it feels to me as if, if all we are talking about is based from fear,” he said.

But wait! Isn't it part of American political dogma that we must never ever criticize Israel no matter how wrong they are? Oh, wait - that's RIGHT-WING dogma, wherein we can never ever even think that Israel might be doing the wrong thing.

Personally, I see diplomacy like I see friends: one who tells you what you WANT to hear is your buddy...but one who tells you what you NEED to hear is your friend.
 
Obama is no friend of Israel, and his animosity towards the Jewish state is unmistakable. He cuts deals with the least liberal creatures on the planet, and then turns around and demonizes Israel every chance he gets.

What patent hypocrisy.
 
Obama is no friend of Israel, and his animosity towards the Jewish state is unmistakable. He cuts deals with the least liberal creatures on the planet, and then turns around and demonizes Israel every chance he gets.

What patent hypocrisy.

If your evidence of "Obama not being a friend of Israel" because he works with and the US has allies who are "not liberal" or "least liberal" then I guess every single President is "no friend of Israel"... Right?
 
If your evidence of "Obama not being a friend of Israel" because he works with and the US has allies who are "not liberal" or "least liberal" then I guess every single President is "no friend of Israel"... Right?

Other than Carter, no other president has heaped the sort of abuse on the Jewish state as has Obama. You can support the Mullah's agenda all you want, but no true liberal does.
 
Other than Carter, no other president has heaped the sort of abuse on the Jewish state as has Obama. You can support the Mullah's agenda all you want, but no true liberal does.

Wait? What abuse? Criticism? I thought it had to deal with "making deals with nonliberals"?
 
Obama is no friend of Israel, and his animosity towards the Jewish state is unmistakable. He cuts deals with the least liberal creatures on the planet, and then turns around and demonizes Israel every chance he gets.

What patent hypocrisy.

Refusing to kiss ass and being willing to criticize when they do wrong is not animosity. Blind allegiance to Israel and all they do is silly. Some day there may be a president with actual animosity towards Israel, that stops defending them more often than not, who cuts off aid, who abandons them. Obama has done none of that.
 
Unfortunately.

I would not go that far at all. Israel is an important ally in the region. However, that does not mean we should keep silent when the country acts the ass, which they are prone to do. Israel does not warrant nor deserve special consideration. They should be treated no better and no worse than any other ally.
 
Unfortunately.

I don't think throwing Israel completely to the wolves is a good idea. We need an ally in that region, and Israel does have a right to exist. Not asking how high when Bibi says jump is a nice change, but we shouldn't completely cut them off, as you seem to be suggesting.
 
I don't think throwing Israel completely to the wolves is a good idea. We need an ally in that region, and Israel does have a right to exist. Not asking how high when Bibi says jump is a nice change, but we shouldn't completely cut them off, as you seem to be suggesting.

I don't think they should be getting billions in aid from us when we have our own financial woes.
 
I don't think they should be getting billions in aid from us when we have our own financial woes.

That would be our first trade agreement ever, with Israel in 1985 .
 
I think we should cut them off too. ;) Oh, and Palestine as well.

Ron and/or Rand Paul?

Do you agree with the Pope recognizing Palestine as an independent state?
As ALL USA President have supported since Israel's birth and Palestine's disintegration .
 
Well said Mr. President; a good friend must speak hard truths.

Obama: US must criticize Israel if it is to defend it | The Times of Israel

President Barack Obama defended his fierce criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the March elections in Israel, arguing that such criticism lends him credibility when defending the Jewish state in international arenas, and rejected attempts to equate his criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. Obama, in a wide-ranging interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, said that his criticism of Netanyahu, who on election day warned in a frantic video that Israel’s Arab citizens were streaming to the polls “in droves,” related to the very “nature of the friendship between the United States and Israel.” He also said that comments such as Netanyahu’s have “foreign-policy consequences.” That criticism, which rattled the already fraught relationship between the two governments, was due to Netanyahu straying from “the very language of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which explicitly states that all people regardless of race or religion are full participants in the democracy,” said Obama, who also took Netanyahu to task for asserting in the run-up to the election that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch.

Both statements by the prime minister appeared geared to rally right-wing voters, although the comment about Arab voters was also widely criticized as racist. Days after the comments were made, the prime minister apologized while speaking to a group of representatives of the Arab community who he invited to his office. Obama at the time slammed Netanyahu for his remarks, saying they were “contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions,” and that it “erodes the name of democracy in the country.” “When something like that happens, that has foreign-policy consequences, and precisely because we’re so close to Israel, for us to simply stand there and say nothing would have meant that this office, the Oval Office, lost credibility when it came to speaking out on these issues,” he told Goldberg on Tuesday. “And when I am then required to come to Israel’s defense internationally, when there is anti-Semitism out there, when there is anti-Israeli policy that is based not on the particulars of the Palestinian cause but based simply on hostility, I have to make sure that I am entirely credible in speaking out against those things, and that requires me then to also be honest with friends about how I view these issues. “My hope is that over time the debate gets back on a path where there’s some semblance of hope and not simply fear, because it feels to me as if, if all we are talking about is based from fear,” he said.

And on this Obama gets an A!!!
 
But wait! Isn't it part of American political dogma that we must never ever criticize Israel no matter how wrong they are? Oh, wait - that's RIGHT-WING dogma, wherein we can never ever even think that Israel might be doing the wrong thing.

Personally, I see diplomacy like I see friends: one who tells you what you WANT to hear is your buddy...but one who tells you what you NEED to hear is your friend.

Yeah, I appreciate the point, but those two are not friends.
 
I would not go that far at all. Israel is an important ally in the region. However, that does not mean we should keep silent when the country acts the ass, which they are prone to do. Israel does not warrant nor deserve special consideration. They should be treated no better and no worse than any other ally.


The US protects Israel from binding resolutions at the UN regularly.

Obama’s Next Move May Be Lifting U.S. Protection of Israel at UN
Mar 31, 2015 1:03 PM CST
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/a...may-be-lifting-u-s-protection-of-israel-at-un
 
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Refusing to kiss ass and being willing to criticize when they do wrong is not animosity. Blind allegiance to Israel and all they do is silly. Some day there may be a president with actual animosity towards Israel, that stops defending them more often than not, who cuts off aid, who abandons them. Obama has done none of that.

They should be defended when deserved, not just more times then not. They are by many standards, a wealthy nation, why exactly do they need aid? They should never be abandoned, nor should any other country.
 
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