Obama is no Bush

No Substitute
Jennifer Rubin - 03.23.2010 - 5:07 PM

AP reports:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warmer public reception from Congress than from the Obama administration, with a top Democrat and Republican joining Tuesday to welcome a leader who has refused to back down in a disagreement with the White House over Israeli housing expansion in a disputed part of Jerusalem. “We in Congress stand by Israel,” the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, assured Netanyahu at an all-smiles appearance before the cameras. “In Congress we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel.”

Well, if there is a silver lining to the black cloud hanging over the U.S.-Israel relationship, it is the rather vibrant bipartisan support voiced toward Israel. Not only in the welcome today, but in the speechifying at AIPAC and in the letters to Obama, there has been widespread support from congressmen and senators for moving forward with crippling sanctions against Iran, as well as calls for the Obami to knock off their Israel bash-a-thon.

On one level, that is reassuring confirmation that Israel enjoys a reservoir of goodwill and affection, which transcends a single administration. But on another, it merely highlights how indispensable is a president whose administration that can maintain the U.S.-Israel relationship and who can understand that there is little to be gained and much to be lost by highlighting the differences between the two countries. Ultimately, it will be the president who chooses to implement “crippling” sanctions, or not; the president who authorizes the use of military force — if needed — against Iran, or not; the president who pursues regime change in, Iran or not; the president who tries to force unilateral concessions on Israel, or not; and the president who is regarded by Israelis as a trusted figure, or not.

The administration is big on platitudes — the relationship with Israel is “rock solid,” a nuclear armed Iran is “unacceptable,” etc. — but its actions are a different matter. To the extent that members of Congress and the American Jewish community are disturbed by what they have seen (i.e., bullying) and what they have not (i.e., a cogent policy with respect to Iran), it is incumbent on them to press the administration to align its rhetoric with its policies. But in the end, there’s just no substitute for a pro-Israel American president.

Interestingly, in an organization that is heavily Democratic, spontaneous applause broke out at the AIPAC session yesterday during a film montage when George W. Bush appeared confirming America’s affection for the Jewish state. Yes, many of us miss him. We have gone from arguably the most pro-Israel president to one of the least, and from one of the most skilled set of Middle East foreign-policy operatives to one of the least. And there is no escaping the fact that it matters. A lot.