Alfonse D'Amato

Obama ends with an unconscionable abandonment of Israel

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There is no denying the strained relationship President Obama has always had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Why Obama has not made more efforts with our one of our greatest allies is beyond my comprehension.

Now, with only weeks left in his presidency, he made an unconscionable decision, one that will forever color his tumultuous relationship with Netanyahu.

On Dec. 21, Obama learned that Egypt had introduced a resolution in the U.N. Security Council condemning Israeli settlements. Four other countries sponsored the legislation, and they were eager for a vote before Obama left office.

Well, they got their wish. The U.S. voted to abstain on the initiative, which criticized Israel for continuing to build settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, citing concern for the best way to promote a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Netanyahu called the measure “absurd” and questioned whose side the U.S. was really on, Israel or the Palestinians’.

While Obama was busy on his annual Hawaiian vacation, playing golf and thanking donors over dinner, he managed to find the time to make a call to give the go-ahead for the vote. He then let Secretary of State John Kerry defend it just a few days later. In a speech with major implications, Kerry accused Israel and Netanyahu of “thwarting peace” in the Middle East, claiming that the Israeli government has been undermining any hope of a two-state solution.

Kerry defended the decision to abstain by saying that the U.S. was “driven by a desire to save Israel from the most extreme elements of its own government.”

Kerry’s speech comes after years of tension and frustration between Obama and Netanyahu. The Obama administration has made it clear that it believes Israel is on course for perpetual warfare with Palestine and has scolded Netanyahu for building new settlements in disputed territory.

The U.S. and Israel have been allies since 1948, when President Truman recognized the Israeli state. Kerry claimed that Israel has overstepped the boundaries of the alliance and “seems to believe that the U.S. friendship means the U.S. must accept any policy, regardless of our own interests, our own positions, our own words, our own principles — even after urging again and again that the policy must change.”

If anyone has the right to be upset, it is Israel, for the lack of leadership the U.S. provided during the Obama presidency. Over the past eight years, the Middle East has gone up in flames. Look at the situation we have now: Countries are collapsing, and extremist Islamic terrorist groups such as ISIS have taken advantage of the current power vacuum and have strengthened. Obama’s weak foreign policy and lack of leadership can be blamed for the current state of the Middle East.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer wisely alluded to the fact that a speech such as the one Kerry gave will only “embolden extremists on both sides.”

If Obama had any concern for rebuilding his foreign policy legacy, he would have voted in support of one of our strongest allies.

Do not be fooled by Kerry’s propagandizing. His speech was more about political retribution than it was about American policy and aiding negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The Obama administration is still clearly upset with Netanyahu for addressing Congress in March 2015 and blasting the nuclear deal the U.S. made with Iran. In that speech, Netanyahu stated the obvious: that the deal guarantees that Iran will have nuclear weapons in the future, because it allows the Islamic republic to keep much of its nuclear infrastructure in place.

President-elect Donald Trump has long been critical of Obama’s stress-filled relationship with Netanyahu. Moments before Kerry made his speech, Trump tweeted, “We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the United States, but not anymore.”

Those are encouraging words for the future.

Fortunately, Jan. 20 will be here soon, and I have full faith that President Trump will revisit these issues with Netanyahu and begin to rebuild the relationship between these two great allies.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.