A Moment for Obama to Spend his Capital
18 May 2009 8:00 am by Taylor Marsh
If ever Pres. Obama was waiting for his moment, he gets one this week. It’s a chance to negate the clamor over torture photos, as well as military commissions. To catapult over questions of his Supreme pick. A moment where he can walk around the every day conflicts and stand apart from the pettiness that’s so choking. He simply needs to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu that the primary goal on his agenda is the two-state solution. The world is holding its collective breath.
“I think this president gets it, in terms of the suffering of the Palestinians,” said Charles W. Freeman Jr., a former United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “He gets it, which is already light years ahead of the average elected American politician.”
Now’s the time to prove it.
“I think that Barack Obama, on this issue as well as many other issues, brings a fresh approach and a fresh background,” Mr. Levy said. “He’s certainly familiar with Israel’s concerns and with the closeness of the Israel-America relationship and with that narrative. But what I think might be different is a familiarity that I think President Obama almost certainly has with where the Palestinian grievance narrative is coming from.”
If Obama falls short the Middle East will revert back to the negativity that’s already begun to spread, simply because hopes are so high and nothing’s happened yet.
As usual, Jeffrey Goldberg is continuing to draw the Iran argument out, recently more concerned with Old Testament points of reference and Israel’s fears, ignoring what is in America’s interest.
Nevertheless, the prime minister’s preoccupation with the Iranian nuclear program seems sincere and deeply felt. I recently asked one of his advisers to gauge for me the depth of Mr. Netanyahu’s anxiety about Iran. His answer: “Think Amalek.”
“Amalek,” in essence, is Hebrew for “existential threat.” Tradition holds that the Amalekites are the undying enemy of the Jews. They appear in Deuteronomy, attacking the rear columns of the Israelites on their escape from Egypt. The rabbis teach that successive generations of Jews have been forced to confront the Amalekites: Nebuchadnezzar, the Crusaders, Torquemada, Hitler and Stalin are all manifestations of Amalek’s malevolent spirit.
Goldberg continues his preoccupation with explaining Netanyahu’s fears and goals, which is important to understand, but mustn’t guide Pres. Obama’s strategic planning on the Mideast.
In fact, what Goldberg misses is that at present, Israel’s Amalek is actually Israel. Obama must keep the Israeli leader form continuing to be his own worst enemy. Whether in Lebanon in 2006, or recently in Gaza, with Israel continually building new settlements, their leaders don’t seem to grasp that this is their last moment, our last moment to help our friend.
Tough love, Mr. President. You’ve not spent any capital on anything vital, anything big, a national security imperative that could change the game for the U.S., as well as the whole Mideast region, bringing Arab states on board with energy that could ripple through the Mideast and beyond, to Pakistan. Because don’t kid yourself, Mr. Netanyahu cannot afford to fail.
You’ve got the capital, Mr. President. Spend it all. If you don’t you’ll lose it.
