Getty Images
Yesterday morning, the New York Daily News ran a curious headline on a story about President Obama's limo having mechanical difficulties in Israel. "Will Obama's historic Israel trip be overshadowed by gaffes?" the headline read.
I'm not sure what "gaffes" and car breakdowns have to do with one another, but it seemed as if some in media were prepared to write off the president's time in Israel as a missed political opportunity.
As of this morning, no one seems to be saying that anymore. Consider this Haaretz editorial.
President Barack Obama penetrated the hearts of the Israeli people yesterday with his moving and compelling speech at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.
His messages, which he directed at the young audience in the hall -- and to hundreds of thousands of households in Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- are much more significant than his polite per-protocol remarks at other events with politicians, primarily with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [...]
Obama's goal in coming to Israel has been achieved: He won Israeli hearts and gave Israelis a sense of security, in the hope that now they will take charge and push the leadership toward a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Let us hope that Obama's call falls on attentive ears.
To be sure, Haaretz is not exactly Israel's equivalent of Fox News, but the larger point is that those who were a little too eager to write off Obama's trip probably should have waited another day -- his Jerusalem speech resonated in Israel in ways that were arguably hard to predict.
So, what's next?
Daniel Levy argued that the president "said all the right things in Jerusalem," but the road ahead is steep.
If Obama does decide to prioritize a peace deal during his second term, and that is a big if, an admittedly optimistic take could look like this: Secretary of State John Kerry might shuttle between the parties to discuss the parameters and even convene direct or trilateral talks. He will also court support from Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Obama in his Ramallah press conference with Abbas seemed to rule out a focus on incremental steps for their own sake (he might be tempted by the idea of a Palestinian state with interim borders, but on that too Netanyahu's best offer will fall short of providing an opening). Progress will be elusive; Netanyahu will offer little.
Eventually, if Kerry makes a convincing case, the president might conclude that a moment of choice has arrived and put forward his own terms of reference for convening an international conference or something similar. He mentioned his previous parameters during the Jerusalem speech, which included borders based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps. Obama would then draw on the credit accrued during this visit to appeal directly to the Israeli public in the face of predictable recalcitrance from Netanyahu. The Israeli center might be impressed and might even generate a little pressure. Like I said, optimistic stuff.
And sadly, even this would be insufficient if several other pieces are not put in place. Key among those is that there will be consequences for Israel if it chooses rejectionism, if not from the United States then from Europe and others; that there is a politically empowered Palestinian side no longer weakened by its current divisions; and that a detailed and nuanced plan exists for engaging with Israel's myriad tribal political leaders, including those who were not in the room on this visit and in whom Obama has yet to take an interest, such as the Haredi and Palestinian-Arab parties. Big ifs indeed.
But, hey, yesterday was a start, and a reasonably good one at that.
Leave a Comment:
I looked around for any coverage / analysis of the content of President Obama' speech on FoxNews.com
Found none.
Surprised? No.
Surprisingly, Rush did make a few comments and played a few clips. Not surprisingly, Rush vehemently denied that peace has ever been established by talks, that one side has never, ever given in to the other side in the name of peace. Once again, Rush et al miss the point that compromise can work towards peace, not simply one side giving into the other side. A lot of Obama's speech could be used domestically, but that will be lost on the Right.
Rush creates his own reality. No, scratch that. He creates a carefully crafted reality for his zombies.
Yeah, it took me a while to realize this is Rush's "schtick". Why the Right gives him any "power" is beyond me. I realize he has a large listening audience, and the majority of them rely on Rush and Fox for their news so are already brainwashed, but still...
Making Limbaugh the only Republican leader in the nation who's three part plan doesn't have an ellipses in step two.
Seems you're implying the GOP is secretly managed by Underpants Gnomes.
To quote Se. Al Franken (before he became a senator) "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot"
a few years ago i was in florida doing some fishing. a man came out to the dock and asked if he could fish. i said sure. we talked about minor things for a while, and then he said to me, i really like rush limbaugh. i looked at him for a few seconds and asked him, why do you like rush. he said what do you mean. i said what is there about him that makes you want to listen to him. he stared at me for several seconds and then said; i don't really know i just like him. wow! duh!
he hates Israel so bad they gave him some old lousy under achiever metal.
LOL
that's was snark.
Great Job President Obama!!!!
He was truly wonderful!!
President Obama's greatness shines through.
Israel and Palistine too tough? If it was easy it would have been done already.
Great job Mr. President.
Affordable Care Act, deaded Bin Laden, revoked DADT, and now on to bring Israel and Palestine to the table for peace talks...
Do Republicans ever think secretly how much shirt-tail credit they'd have gained by supporting this president rather than having wasted these years trying to ruin him?
As a liberal American Jew, I could not be more proud of our POTUS. He owned that hall full of students and young people by sticking up for the Palestinians and what is right. A small part of me actually believes Bibi might have appreciated the mainstreaming of peace, because it's the only viable path forward.
Perhaps the irony of Obama's speech is that he could never have given the same speech inside the U.S. To see diversity of opinion allowed on the subject of Israel & Palestine, one must go to Israel or read several of the English language Israeli papers. In the United States, only the AIPAC approved Likud based discussion is permitted.
Another irony is that Steve Benen actually mentioned Bibi NutAndYahoo in less than a completely favorable light.
I might agree with you, had not Nitwityahoo not installed the most far-right government in Israel's history two days before Obama arrived, giving three major cabinet posts to a party that calls for the expulsion of the Palestinians from the West Bank, taking Israeli citizenship away from Israeli Arabs, and annexing "Greater Israel." Not only that, but the day before Obama arrived, he submitted an amendment to the Basic Law that removes "democratic" from the definition of Israel as a "democratic Jewish state." The American Jewish Crazies who are the fascist settler scum called the new cabinet "a settler's wet dream."
Obama won't get any progress until he calls Nitwityahoo in and tells him that for every penny he spends stealing the West Bank, he loses $10 from his American welfare check - that is the only kind of language a guy like Nitwityahoo and the rest of his evil cabal of Jews who prove a Jew can indeed be a Nazi will ever understand.
Yet somehow, mysteriously and for what reasons only he (and perhaps Obama can know) Bibi just now apologized to Turkey for the raid on the boat trying to run the Gaza Strip blockade.
Could the anti Semetic garbage stop please???? That is revolting....am I the only one who thinks so?
The President was certainly at his best yesterday - I love how he handled the heckler at the beginning. What amazes me about Obama is that he always seems to be so 'present' at his speeches and not merely giving them on 'automatic.' He handily turned that lemon into lemonade and the audience gave him a standing ovation for it.
On another note, Rachel certainly did a great service last night with her segment highlighting that as CNN and MSNBC showed live footage of President Obama receiving Israel's highest civilian honor, Fox News skipped it altogether and ran an ad for Hannity's show implying that Israel was hating on Obama. Is it any wonder that people who don't follow news at all are still more informed than Fox viewers?
History seems to have forgotten that Winston Churchill foresaw the deadly standoff between Israeli’s and Palestinians as far back as the 1920s when he urged that the Balfour declaration include a requirement for a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish state. His reasoning was pragmatic, at the time: Arabs helped Britain against Germany in World War I and he felt England owed them something. But Churchill was opposed by the Foreign Office and by the British Cabinet, and the call never survived to the final draft.
Beyond feeling that Britain owed a debt to Arabs, he also saw the likelihood of a conflict with the Jews if the question of a Palestinian state were not resolved up-front.
Now we are paying the price.
As an American Jew, I’ve regrettably come to wash my hands of Israel and have even less use for its soulless cheerleaders at AIPAC and on the Hill in Washington. To inflict on Palestinians the same sort of unconscionable repression as has been wreaked on Jews for centuries is reprehensible and inexcusable. Have we learned nothing from our own experience? Have we no understanding of how history will judge Israel’s behavior?
The right wing nutjobs in Israel are as misguided and self-deceiving as the right wing nutjobs in the US. They are acting worse than the Taliban and should be ashamed.
Did you notice that during the multiple standing ovations there was a small segment of young people with sour looks on their faces? It was demographics in action, public polling for free, and this was a carefully chosen audience. It gives me hope that the young people of Israel actually get it! The sour faces were outnumbered, big...
@ Dude - Yes, I noticed them, as well. Their behavior was disgusting, disrespectful, and disreputable.
Those guys with the sour faces might be a minority in that crowd, but they have become a majority of the Israeli Army through the planned right wing infiltration of the armed forces. Sorry, but those are the numbers that count.
The whole problem was created by the need of Britain for Rothschild loans to keep on fighting World War I, which is what led Balfour to give away what he didn't actually own (the middle east) in 1917. Like most "imperial promises," he likely figured the piper would never demand payment. Not to mention that the Jews who were pushing Zionism then were European, and the Arabs were just "dirty wogs" to him.
And one doesn't need to be Jewish to feel great sorrow at watching Israel destroy everything Judaism ever stood for as the Religion of Ethics.
I will say one thing for the POTUS; that was a bold speach. That could have gone over horribly with the crowd. If that happened, you could be sure that Fox News would have covered that.
My question is how can the US pretend to be an "honest, credible, neutral" broker of this situation when we've already guaranteed to the Israeli's that "we're on their side"? So what happens when Israel refuses to negotiate, nothing, except more frustration by the Palestinians whose lands are being usurped daily. And exactly why are the Palestinians demonized because they refuse to be silenced and why should we demand that they be silenced? And how silent would you be if it were happening to you?
Hypocrisy comes to mind.
Imperial hypocrisy has a long history, particularly with this particular "Good Emperor."
zora, the israelis and palistinians are both at fault. israel has usurped land to build settlements and farms and the palistinians have used rockets and suicide bombers to punish israel. remember that israel sits in the middle of several arab states. so that comment about ' we have your back' was meant for any country in the area that has ambitions about israel. in order to have real peace both sides have to want it. when you have political power and you want to keep it, it always pays to have conflicts. just ask mr. bush!
Thanks Obama, you have fooled Israelis and Palestinians very well by telling them half truth. How can you make peace by telling a goat to be responsible for the safety and security of the LION KING (ISRAEL) in the entire Jungle and providing fresh meat to the king and few straws to the crying goat?
Now that I've seen TRMS segment about Nixon interfering in the Vietnam peace process for political gain, I wonder if those American religious extremist do the same because it interferes with their Revelation theories (an Arab-Israeli war meant to usher the Second Coming). Would they be any less inclined than Nixon was to ensure the outcome they want?
Absolutely right. This is why the Republicans wouldn't go traveling to Israel with Obama. Their base salivates at the thought of more war in the Middle East. And the Israeli government depends on the support of Americans who do so in order to see all the Jews but 144,000 who proclaim Jesus the Messiah cast into the flaming pit in the Second Coming. "Supporters" like the Christian Right don't exactly have the interests of Israelis at heart.
I see that Bibi has finally apologized to Turkey for the flotilla incident of several years ago. Score one for Obama.
yes that is a good sign.
now if we can get an apology for the USS Liberty.
but this is a step forward.
The Liberty Incident still demonstrates the true nature of this "alliance" between Israel and the U.S. That and the traitor Jonathan Pollard.
Rachel Maddow, first of all thank GOD (even atheists would!) for you and others like you.
Regarding 3/21 show about Israel visit and Fox News: we've all seen far too much of Fox's B.S. to be even mildly surprised, but we must not stop being outraged.
Fox and their ilk are a dark age, a blight on America and its history. I can only hope we'll outgrow it in my lifetime and return to a time when propaganda and lies get no attention or airtime, and are regarded with a scoff by most citizens. Think: National Enquirer.
But for that to happen, most citizens will need to be capable of critical thinking. Education is the core issue for America having any kind of a future. We need to tackle it, and the sooner the better or the extreme right will continue to influence weaker minds, and that population is ever growing right now.
First, Rachel Maddow thank GOD (even an atheist would) for you and anyone like you. We need more voices of reason on the air.
RE: 3/21 show, nobody should be surprised at this late date by Fox News pulling more of their typical B.S., but we can never stop being outraged.
Fox News is a blight on American history, a dark age when pure propaganda and lies can gain a strong foothold in people's hearts and minds. I can only hope that reason and common sense win out in my lifetime, and Fox News and their ilk will be regarded with nothing more than a scoff by most citizens.
But for that day to come, most people will need the ability to think critically. That means we need to better educate our people. Improving Education in America must become a TOP priority and the sooner the better. If not, the extreme right will continue to influence and control weaker minds, and it seems like their numbers are only growing right now.
Why does the United States have to do whatever Israel says??
This is the tail wagging the dog.
The US President should tell Israel to stop annexing Palestine via their "settlements", or else all US aid to Israel will cease. If 0bama wants to see some success in the Israel/Palestine area, he should threaten to cut off the flow of money. That's something politicians understand.
"What we want now is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the world and the elimination of egoism and pride...Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment" Nikola Tesla 1919