June 4th, 2009: Day of Infamy?

Tomorrow, one day before the 42d anniversary of the famed "Six-Day War" between Israel and the Arab countries surrounding it, Barack Obama will deliver an address in Egypt, the primary antagonist and big loser of that war. While only Obama and his advisers know what is in the speech, it is not hard to predict that it will be dismaying to Israel's leaders and citizens, and millions of Jews elsewhere. Not only will Obama reiterate the themes of his interview with Al-Arabiya Arab television early in his presidency in which he advocated closer ties between America and the Arab-Islamic world, but he will likely use the speech to signal to Israel's friends and foes alike that the "special relationship" between the U.S. Israel is drawing to a close.

On the eve of this historic event it would be well to take time to watch this 15- minute PJTV interview of The Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick. Ms. Glick is known to many who follow security issues in the the Middle East and in particular Israel for her insight and moral clarity with respect to the threats facing Israel and the West. Like her writing style, her tone and demeanor is direct, dry and humorless, which tracks rather well with her downbeat outlook on a depressing series of events. Nevertheless, I think her assessment of the current state of play between the U.S., Israel and the rest of the world is, regrettably, dead on.

Some examples:

--Obama is intentionally engineering a crisis in U.S. relations with Israel in advance of Obama's trip to the Middle East. The crisis is designed to marginalize the Israeli government in the hopes that it will crack (fall) under the pressure.

--It is now American policy to forcibly remove almost a million Jews from their homes in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria, the historical biblical lands of the Israelites) to make way for an "apartheid" Arab state in which no Jew will be permitted.

--America is openly and clearly overturning a range of strategic agreements with Israel established under previous American administrations (Democrat and Republican alike), but particularly understandings with President Bush concerning Israel's security and borders.

--The U.S. policy is now abject appeasement of the Arab world, and Israel is the "currency" we are using to do this.

--Rahm Emanuel (about whom I wrote in this space several weeks ago) is Obama's hatchet man in implementing this policy. He is actively trying to destabilize the Netanyahu government by pressuring American (liberal) Jewish organizations to criticize Israel's policies regarding settlements and borders as well as control of Jerusalem's holy sites. In effect Emanuel is trading on Obama's popularity among American Jews in order to convince them to sell out Israel.

--Obama has raised the possibility of sanctions on Israel if it doesn't follow Obama's demands on halting settlements. He has also suggested that the U.S. cannot be counted on to veto anti-Israel resolutions in the U.N.

--Palestinian leader Abbas continues to incite his populace against Israel and has not one iota of interest in peace with the Jewish state. He refuses even to entertain the notion that Israel would or should retain its Jewish character.

--The fact that there is no one among the Palestinians with whom Israel can negotiate seems not to trouble Obama one bit, for he is intent on shoveling money and support to the failed-state-in-waiting.

--Obama's decision to bypass Israel on this trip to the Middle east is a deliberate and "dismal" signal to Israel's enemies that it is now open season on Israel.

It is worth noting that Glick's colleague Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy doesn't believe that Americans will ultimately support this dastardly policy:

It is hard to believe the Obama Middle East agenda enjoys the support of the American people or their elected representatives in Congress. Historically, the public and strong bipartisan majorities on Capitol Hill have appreciated that an Israel that shares our values, that is governed democratically and that is in the cross hairs of the same people who seek our destruction is an important ally. Quite apart from a sense of moral and religious affinity for the Jewish people's struggle to survive in their ancient homeland, most of us recognize it is in the United States' strategic interest to stand with Israel.

Gaffney hopes that as Obama's policies and their implications become more widely known "he will find himself facing the sort of popular and congressional revolt that has confronted him in recent weeks on Guantanamo Bay." This is a faint hope indeed, since Obama appears to have support for his policies from the vast majority of liberal Jews and Jewish congressmen.

In the meantime, if as predicted Obama's Cairo speech is the opening salvo in a campaign to marginalize Israel, then tomorrow, June 4th, 2009, will truly be a day of infamy.