The Obama Peace Plan: Rahm Emanuel Is Wrong

Rachel Ehrenfeld
bigpeace.com
05 June '11

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attempted last week to reassure Israel that President Obama’s May 19th speech was misconstrued; Mr. Obama’s repeated calls for Israel’s return to the 1967 lines grew out of his concern for the Jewish state, claimed the former White House Chief of Staff.

In his June 2nd Washington Post article, Mr. Emanuel echoed the president’s contention that “the hard realities of demography” threaten the survival of the Jewish state. Clearly, both anchored their arguments in the conjured estimates of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. A 2006 World Bank study found a “32% ‘inflation’ in the number of Arab births, ” alleged by the Palestinians.

A more recent comprehensive study on Jewish-Arab Demographic Trends in the Land of Israel, published earlier this year by Yakov Faitelson, found that “ in 2011 there is a 66% Jewish majority … in the combined area of pre-1967 Israel, Judea and Samaria.”

The study demonstrated that

“Despite 120 years of demographic calamity projections, the Jewish population in the Land of Israel succeeded to grow from a 5% minority to a 60% majority.”


“In 2010, the Jewish fertility rate is 63% higher than Lebanon’s, 53% higher than Iran’s, 33% higher than Turkey’s and Kuwait’s, 23% higher than Saudi Arabia’s, slightly higher than Egypt’s and only 7% and 4% lower than Jordan’s and Syria’s respectively.”


“Israeli Arab fertility rate has collapsed since the 1970s [due to a most successful integration into the infrastructures of education, employment, finance, politics, culture, sports, etc.]…It declined to 3.5 births per woman in 2009.”


“In 1995, there were 2.34 Jewish births per 1 Arab birth. In 2009-10, there were 3.12 Jewish births per 1 Arab birth.”


“The demographic trends within pre-1967 Israel are identical to those in Judea and Samaria…but, in a much faster pace. The fertility rate of Judea and Samaria Arabs dropped from 6.44 births per woman in 1990 to 3.12 births in 2010…lower than Israeli Arabs and substantially lower than the Jewish fertility rate in the Jerusalem region.”

As this study clearly documented, “the shifting sands of demography” in the Middle East work in favor of the Jewish state, not against it, as Mr. Emanuel argued.

(Read full "The Obama Peace Plan: Rahm Emanuel Is Wrong")

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Rubin: Rahm Emanuel Tries to Build Up Obama on Israel But Digs Him Into a Deeper Hole

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
05 June '11

http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2011/06/rahm-wasnt-built-in-day-but-obama-digs.html

You know that President Barack Obama understands he’s got problems with Israel (and, more importantly for him, with its supporters in the United States) when he trots out Rahm Emanuel to write an op-ed in defense of the president’s alleged love for Israel.

Rahm Emanuel may have been born an Israeli citizen and had his son bar-mitzvahed in Jerusalem but to have Emanuel attest to Obama’s credentials on Israel is like having Mel Gibson as spokesman for Australia; or Arnold Schwarzenegger as Austria’s booster; or Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the poster boy for France's tourism board ("Hi, I'm Dominique Strauss-Kahn, come to France and stay in our wonderful hotels!)

In other words, it is totally meaningless and even—for those who know something about the individuals involved—even counterproductive.

There are, however, two important things it tells us about Obama and his administration:

First, they are detached from reality enough to think that this is a clever idea. Rather than going to someone actually recognized as being pro-Israel or active in Jewish affairs who supports Obama (I could give him a list of far better people) he turned to a political crony who is disliked by both communities. Despite the near-fanatical support for Obama by the majority of American Jews, he is totally deaf to their concerns and feelings.

Second, it shows that Obama always prefers a cheap public relations’ gesture to a substantive policy action.

Just because Emanuel was born an Israeli citizen, however, doesn’t mean he knows much about the country. I was struck by the total idiocy of his big argument:

“President Obama, like every student of the Middle East, understands that the shifting sands of demography in that volatile region are working against the two-state solution needed to end generations of bloodshed.”

If Obama is a student of the Middle East, he gets an “F” on his report card.

I’m a student of the Middle East and I think that’s total nonsense. Why is the “demography” in the region against the two-state solution? Because there are more Palestinians? Who cares? That has absolutely zero political impact as such.

Israel does not rule the Gaza Strip. Hamas does.

Israel does not rule the people of the West Bank (as opposed to territory there without any people living in it) Fatah does, through the Palestinian Authority.

Hello? That’s been the basic situation now for 17 years. (Not the Hamas part, the Palestinian Authority aspect.)

So what if the Palestinian population doubles, triples, quadruples, that has no effect at all on Israel’s status as a democratic state of its citizens. And as the past has shown, Israel can win against much larger countries because of a list of factors I won’t bother listing here.)

Obama official: "Occupied" East Jerusalem is the heart of Judaism

From todays's e-mails
By O.
25 May '10

As I'm sure you know, Rahm Emmanuel is currently in Israel in order to celebrate his son's bar mitzah. According to some sources, the Bar Mitzvah is planned to be at the Kotel (AKA "Occupied East Jerusalem"). And of course, that's the most symbolic and coveted place for an American Jew to celebrate his son's Bar Mitzvah. Emmanuel is doing what many other American Jews yearn to do.

It's great that he's coming, and like many Israelis, I welcome him to Jerusalem and wish him a hearty 'Mazel Tov', but the the hypocrisy should be made clear: The Jew who says that the Kotel is 'on the table', comes to that same place for his religious observance.

Would Emmanuel have come here if the Kotel would have been under PA rule? Would he have come here to celebrate his son's Bar Mitzvah in Tel Aviv? Probably not. Good thing we don't have peace yet - where would he have celebrated then?

Israel united Jerusalem, and gave free access and freedom of religion, to all religions. Congress commended Israel and recognized Jerusalem as our capital. But it seems that the American Executive branch sees Jerusalem as just a piece of conquered Palestinian territory, and a chip on the bargaining table.

I therefore wish to thank Rahm Emmanuel, since actions speak louder than diplomacy. As his son opens the Torah scroll before our ancient wall, the Emmanuel family will connect itself to the Jewish people, to its history and to its holy city.

Rahm Emmnauel's visit clearly says: "Occupied East Jerusalem" is *the* heart of Judaism.

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It's Not the Messaging, It's the Message

Daniel Greenfield
Sultan Knish
17 May '10

Two weeks ago I was asked what role Rahm Emanuel is meant to play in the Obama Administration's campaign against Israel. That question has now been answered. Emanuel has been selected for the unlikely role of the "Good Cop" in an administration full of "Bad Cops". After seemingly steering clear of Israeli policy, Rahm Emanuel surfaced in a meeting with several moderate liberal "Rabbis" to explain that the Obama Administration was actually extremely pro-Israel, only their "messaging" was screwed up.

The "messaging" tactic is one that the Obama Administration has repeatedly used to reassert its position while arguing that critics simply didn't understand what was being said to them. Think of Cool Hand Luke. "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." What that really means is a failure to obey. Run that through PRese and mix it up with a handful of buzzwords, and it's another attempt at pushing the "Reset button" while really saying, "We're not wrong, you're stupid." Hoping that the people they're talking to are too stupid to realize what's really being said and done to them.

The idea that Rahm Emanuel is the Obama Administration's top Jewish asset is already surreal. Despite his background, in his actual job Emanuel has shown about as much interest in Jews and Israel, as Biden has shown in the Irish and Ireland. But Emanuel's own political ambitions doubtlessly played a major part in allowing him to select this role for himself. The real Rahm Emanuel has no loyalties except to himself, which is why he isn't about to let himself be used as a "Bad Cop" and then thrown under the bus. It's safer to be the "Good Cop" and then walk away claiming you were misled by people you trusted, once the wheel turns.

But Rahm's soiree shows a dose of worry by the Obama Administration when it comes to their Jewish support. The full list of Rabbis he met with hasn't been released, but those who have are younger, moderate liberal and pro-Israel. This marks a retreat from the unofficially official position of the Obama Administration that its hostility to Israel is actually representative of a "new generation" of Jews who hate Israel. And anyone who disagrees is just a "Likudnik". Of course they don't say "hate". They have nicer terms than that, which is helpful when what you're really talking about is collaborating in genocide.

All along J Street and left wing anti-Israel groups have been promoting a youthful self-image, which is a tough sell considering that its president, Jeremy Ben Ami is pushing 50, and its moneyman, creaky Nazi collaborator George Soros, is pushing 80. But the left's progressivism requires casting their struggle as that of the caring and passionate youth against the uncaring old men. Even if the old men are the ones who are actually running the show from behind the scenes. Especially then. And so after picking over the rhetorical bones of Peace Now, they emerged with "Dor Shalem Doresh Shalom" or "A Whole Generation Demands Peace".

(Read full article)

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[Security:Sovereignty balance] Rahm Emanuel: Now is not the time for a new Mideast peace plan

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
21 April '10

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

Here it is. Read it carefully:

"start to make the hard decisions to bring a balance between the aspirations of the Israelis for security and make that blend with the aspirations of the Palestinian people for their sovereignty"

Here is what one suspects Emanuel meant: You Israelis are correct that a sovereign Palestinian state will compromise the security of the Jewish State. So I am not going to debate you on this issue. I am not going to argue that jumping off the roof may kill you. But you have to "blend" your desire not to die as you slam into the pavement and the need to create a sovereign Palestinian state. By the way - our bond is unbreakable but you damn well better jump off the roof.

But since Emanuel introduced the idea that there is a need for balance then here is an Israeli interpretation: a sovereign Palestinian state is a step towards the destruction of Israel. This isn't the view of some small minority. The polls shows that both in Israel and among American Jews the overwhelming majority recognize that the Palestinians see the "two state solution" as no more than a step towards the "final solution" - Israel destroyed.

The "hard decision" is for the Palestinians to back down for sovereign state and switch gears to "autonomous state", with Israel making more "hard decisions" to maximize the ability of such an "autonomous state" to thrive. This can mean spending, for example, more money on security technology to further expedite Palestinian commerce.

Interestingly, a good part of the "nation building" activity in the current two year PA program jibes with "autonomous sate" building as much as "sovereign state" building.]

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Rahm Emanuel: Now is not the time for a new Mideast peace plan
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 18:57 20/04/2010
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164182.html

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said in an interview on Monday that the time has not come yet for a new U.S. Mideast peace proposal.

(Read full article)

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Israel's Crisis and Opportunity

Steven M. Goldberg
American Thinker
31 March '10

(Perhaps a bit more on the dire side than my taste, but some interesting points)

Rahm Emanuel famously proclaimed, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Ironically, although the President's Chief of Staff has proven to be a false friend of Israel, the leadership of the Jewish State would do well to heed his advice.

That Israel is in peril is obvious. Israel's enemies sense the opportunity to destroy it through a perfect storm, a confluence of events that seem to leave Israel reeling and vulnerable. First and foremost is the unmistakable betrayal by the President of the United States, who has loudly broadcast his eagerness to sacrifice the security of the Jewish State to appease the Muslim world. Israel is under enormous duress to surrender vital territory to allow for the creation of a Palestinian state within its borders. That such a development would be catastrophic for Israel is apparent to anyone who knows history. As former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated, "The Palestinian state can only emerge on the ruins of Israel."

In addition, Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons, and it is clear that the international community will do nothing to stop it. President Obama appears to be pressuring Israel to refrain from military action to stop the Iranian threat. Hezb'allah and Hamas have restocked their arsenals of rockets and missiles, which now threaten to reach the center of Israel, including Tel Aviv. The European Union is championing the Fayed Plan, pursuant to which the Palestinian Authority would unilaterally announce the establishment of the Palestinian state, which would shortly thereafter be recognized by the United Nations Security Council. In view of President Obama's indifference and even antipathy to Israel, the United States cannot be counted on to exercise its veto.

(Read full post)
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'Next year in….' An open letter to Rahm Emanuel & David Axelrod

David Wilder
Hebron.com
15 March '10

Dear Rahm and David,

I’m writing this as I sit and watch, via live internet, the ceremony marking the rededication of the Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem, in the area you would classify “east Jerusalem”, disputed territory, or perhaps, ‘occupied territory’ over the ‘green line’ adjacent to 'Temple Mount.'

Before asking a few questions, I’d like to describe to you several men who took part in tonight’s celebration.

First, there is Reuvan ‘Ruby’ Rivlin, presently speaker of the Knesset. A seventh generation Jerusalemite, Ruby is a ‘Rivlin’ from both his mother and father’s side, descended from both Rebbi Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov and the Gra, the Gaon, Rebbi Eliyahu from Vilna.

Rivlin, a seasoned politician, had trouble controlling his voice as he spoke, his words quivering with emotion, as he repeated the words of his great-grandfather, who spoke at the rededication of the destroyed Hurva shul a hundred and fifty years ago.

Also speaking briefly was former Prisoner of Zion, former minister, and present chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, who described how, in 1992, he convinced the entire Israeli government to unanimously approve reconstruction of the Hurva, destroyed by the Jordanians following their occupation of the Jerusalem in 1948.

But the man who most impressed me was David Rabinovitch, an Israeli Russian, who contributed heavily to the renovation of the Hurva. Rubenstein spoke briefly, albeit in Russian, and announced that he and his partners, whose financial fortunes built the Hurva, would participate in rebuilding the nearby Tiferet Yisrael synagogue, also destroyed by the Arabs during the War of Independence. These men, who grew up without any Jewish background, and who today barely speak Hebrew, are investing their life’s fortunes in synagogues, in Jerusalem.

And you, Rahm and David, what are you investing your lives in?

(Read full letter)
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First, Do No Harm

Evelyn Gordon
Contentions/Commentary
07 January '10

After Israeli media reported yesterday that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had threatened to curtail U.S. involvement in Israeli-Palestinian talks, the White House rushed to deny it. That’s a pity — because curtailing U.S. involvement would be far more helpful than what special envoy George Mitchell is actually doing.

Interviewed by PBS yesterday, Mitchell (as Jennifer noted) declared: “We think that the negotiation should last no more than two years … Personally I think it can be done in a shorter period of time.”

That, frankly, is ridiculous. In 16 years of talks, the parties have yet to resolve a single final-status issue. Just 15 months ago, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected an Israeli offer of 94 percent of the West Bank, territorial exchanges for the remainder, and international Muslim control over the Temple Mount. Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will certainly offer no more, and probably not as much. So what does Mitchell think will happen in the next two years to suddenly make Abbas abandon positions he has stuck to for the last 16 — or else make Israel agree to suicide by, for instance, accepting Abbas’ demand that it absorb 4.7 million Palestinian “refugees”?

Nor need one be “anti-peace” to recognize this. Here’s the first sentence of a column published in the left-wing Israeli paper Haaretz yesterday by its leftist, pro-peace diplomatic correspondent, Aluf Benn: “Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is right: During the next two years Israel will not reach a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians.”

Andrew Sullivan: It’s Time to Invade Israel

Marine Barracks/Beirut

23 October 83

Noah Pollak
Contentions/Commentary
06 January '10

Click here to visit crazy town:

My own view is moving toward supporting a direct American military imposition of a two-state solution, with NATO troops on the borders of the new states of Palestine and Israel. I’m sick of having a great power like the US being dictated to in the conduct of its own foreign policy.

Presumably the direct American military imposition of a two-state solution would involve the Marines going house to house in Gaza City. Talk about American soldiers dying for Israel! For someone who has spent the past few years denouncing the hubris of American military intervention in the Middle East, this is heady stuff.
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Obama’s no Polemarchus

FresnoZionism
06 January '10

Rahm Emanuel is sick of Israelis and Palestinians. In an explosion of even-handedness, he stopped just short of calling for a pox on both of our houses:

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently told the Israeli consul in Los Angeles that the Obama administration is fed up with both Israel and the Palestinians, Army Radio reported on Wednesday.

Emanuel met with Jacob Dayan, consul general of Israel in Los Angeles, about two weeks ago, after which Dayan briefed the Foreign Ministry. Emanuel told Dayan the U.S. is sick of the Israelis, who adopt suitable ideas months too late, when they are no longer effective, according to Army Radio.

The U.S. is also sick of the Palestinians who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Emanuel reportedly said. — Ha’aretz

With respect to Israel,

Emanuel reportedly said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly acknowledged the two-state solution too late, and that the freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank came only after months of U.S. pressure.

Is it reasonable to think that the Palestinian and Israeli positions on Jerusalem borders, refugees, etc. would have been any closer together six months ago than today? After all, Olmert offered much more to the Palestinians in 2008 than Netanyahu will countenance today, without results. So why would it have helped to get Netanyahu to utter the magic words “two-state solution” — words which mean entirely different things to Israelis and Palestinians — or to impose a partial settlement freeze which will never be enough for the Palestinians?

No, what prevents a settlement is that what Israel can give without surrendering its right to exist is less than the minimum that the Palestinian leadership can accept. Welcome to the Middle East, as the old joke goes.

(Read full article)

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Thunder and Lightning

Marc Prowiser
Yesha Views
11 November 09

Thunder and Lightning, or in Hebrew – Rahm and Barak, can either bring rains of blessing or a damaging storm.

Rahm Emanuel spoke to the General Assembly of Jewish leaders regarding Israel and US involvement in achieving peace between Israel and the Arab occupants of Judea and Samaria. He spoke of his family’s connection to Israel, President Obama’s dedication to peace in the region and how what started in 1967, must end.

What exactly started in 1967? Israel was victorious over the Jordanian Army after we were attacked, and ended the JORDANIAN occupation of the region, this is what started back in 1967. Jewish communities were reborn from the ashes, once again Jews were allowed to live in places they were once evicted from, and places where they were massacred. What started? Mr. Emanuel? Jews returned to their biblical heartland, you know this as you were brought up with a religious education. The Chief of Staff spoke of how his Father took the name “Emanuel” in honor of his Uncle who died fighting for Israel, will he show the same courage when the Arabs once again deny the existence of a “Jewish” state?

I could not help but notice the lack of heart Mr. Emanuel had while speaking, his lack of conviction, his detachment from the truth and real situation on the ground in Israel. How easy it is to speak to an assembly full of “yes men”, whose lives are not endangered by the political duels going own. Mr. Emanuel mentioned how the “Two State Solution” enjoys bi-partisan support among US Jewry. I ask myself, whose sons and daughters are serving in the armed forces of Israel and putting themselves on the front lines, defending a people and country with their lives.

Rahm, mentioned not to let “settlements” stand in the way of peace, who is he to decide what is good for Israel, who will clean up the mess he makes, definitely not his sons. Yes, he is the President’s Chief of Staff, a very powerful politician and possibly the mastermind of the current US strategy to endear itself to the Arabs and Muslims of the world. If he believes that the dismantling of the Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria will solve the Israeli-Arab problem, then he probably feels that Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a common criminal and not a terrorist.

It hurts to hear the cheers of the audience as Rahm mentions the issue of “ending” the communities of Judea and Samaria, most of those at this convention have never been out to any of these places and regard the populous as extremist lunatics, how unfortunate that they don’t even realize who these people really are and how their “Heroes” in the IDF are made up of these people, that these places are theirs also. Such is ignorance. I challenge them to come out here to visit and see what is really going on and meet the people of Judea and Samaria, but to come out with an open mind, sans the poison that they are being fed by the opponents of a strong Jewish nation.

I also extend this invitation to Mr. Emanuel to come out and meet us, not through the eyes of the government, but through your heart and mind. Maybe for your son’s Bar Mitzvah, after he reads the Torah at the Kotel (in the capital of Israel today), take him also to Hevron to see where his forefathers are buried, then to Shilo which served as the first capital of Israel, home to the Mishkan (Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant) for 369 years (even older than the United States).

You spoke how important your history is to you, here is a chance to show your family and supporters that you mean what you say.

Mr. Emanuel, you are a source of pride to the American Jewish Community, your patriotism, your dedication and your loyalty. I would like to bless you that you also become a source of pride to all of your people, all over the world using the same characteristics.

Who Was Distracted by Settlements, Rahm?

Jonathan Tobin
Contentions/Commentary
10 November 09

Rahm Emanuel’s statement today that “no one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the goal of a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab world” may be interpreted in a couple of different ways. Some may see it as a jibe at Israel to give in on the issue so as to enable peace talks to proceed. But the truth is, if anyone has been distracted by the settlements to the detriment of peace, it would be Emanuel and his master in the Oval Office.

Some feared that the White House chief of staff’s speech to the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities today in Washington might be the latest in a series of tit-for-tat ripostes between the Obama administration and the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. However, it appears that Netanyahu’s determined effort to pretend — at least in public — that all is well between the two bickering allies has resulted in the administration’s deciding that increasing the tension between the two isn’t in their interest. Thus, although Emanuel’s talk sought to defend his boss’s feckless pursuit of popularity in the Arab world by distancing himself from Israel at every opportunity, it appears as though he passed on the chance to take any direct shots at Netanyahu.

As for his line about letting settlements “distract” anyone from the goal of peace, if anyone has done that, it has been Obama and his minions, whose recklessness on this issue has led to no end of Middle East mischief in recent months. Obama was determined to end what he termed the George W. Bush policy of allowing “no daylight” between the countries (which was hardly true, as Bush’s secretary of state spent her last two years in office trying to push the Israelis into more concessions to the Palestinians). His decision to pick a fight with the newly elected Netanyahu over a settlement freeze in Jerusalem and the territories was as foolish as it was pointless. The Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, had just turned down yet another generous peace offer from Netanyahu’s predecessor Ehud Olmert. And the administration’s settlement stand merely encouraged the Palestinians to dig in their heels and refuse to talk until Netanyahu bowed to a demand that no Israeli government would ever agree to.

The result is that Obama’s settlement distraction helped further undermine the already weak Abbas and strengthened the hand of his Hamas rivals. With Abbas threatening resignation, there is now a chance that the Palestinians will opt, as they always have whenever they have been faced with a serious policy choice in the past, for an escalation of violence in the hope that more bloodshed will result in greater pressure on Israel. Obama and his hatchet man Emanuel have been chastened by the Israeli public’s strong support for Netanyahu’s refusal to bow to American pressure, and they appear to be adopting a more realistic policy on settlements these days. But their resentment of Netanyahu, who they thought they might topple a few months ago, has done nothing to advance the cause of peace, let alone regional stability. Let’s hope they take that line about distractions more seriously in the future.

It should also be noted that in the same speech Emanuel claimed that the administration has made some sort of progress on stopping Iran’s nuclear program since “thanks to the work of the president, there is strong and international consensus against a nuclear-armed Iran.” Sorry, Rahm, but that consensus existed long before Obama arrived in Washington. The problem today is whether the United States and its allies (who have taken a much tougher stand on Iran than Obama has) will draw the right conclusions from America’s failed attempt at nuclear diplomacy with Iran. On Iran, as well as on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Obama’s first initiatives have been fiascoes. What’s needed now is not rhetoric aimed at reassuring American Jews that Obama cares about Israel but rather a dramatic policy overhaul that recognizes and seeks to correct the dramatic mistakes that have been made in the last ten months.

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Failure Everyone Can See Now

Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
15 October 09

At some point, not even the mainstream media can spin sufficiently for the hapless Obama foreign policy. This Washington Post report is blunt:

A political crisis for the Palestinian Authority and growing doubts about American mediation have deeply undercut chances that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume in the near future, according to officials and analysts on both sides.

After nine months of shuttle diplomacy by U.S. special envoy George J. Mitchell, the gap between Israeli and Palestinian leaders appears to have grown, and it now includes not only a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, but also renewed tension over Jerusalem, disagreement over the framework for the talks and controversy over a U.N. report on alleged war crimes during Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.

In other words, Obama’s Middle East gambit, apparently inspired by those known Middle East policy wonks Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, has failed. Spectacularly so. Putting daylight between the U.S. and Israel and sneering at the Bush team for being too close to Israel didn’t really get the Obami anywhere, did it? The Post is candid that the fixation on settlements “backfired.” As virtually every pro-Israel conservative commentator predicted, “It raised hopes among Palestinians, who began to demand nothing less than a full freeze, and led to severe tensions in U.S.-Israeli relations.”

And all that ingratiating with the “Muslim World” in Cairo? Not much was gained; in fact, the parties are more estranged than ever. Our relations with Israel have not been this strained since . . . well, ever . . . and the administration’s credibility is arguably worse than any of its recent predecessors.

What can be learned from all this? Sanctimonious speeches and fractured history-telling don’t make for “peace.” Savaging your allies doesn’t get you anywhere. And ignoring hard truths — including the Palestinians’ unsolved internal divisions and refusal to renounce and root out terrorism — also doesn’t get you anywhere. Moreover, Obama’s appearance on the scene doesn’t change any of the fundamental issues; neither does chanting “diplomacy” or “dedication to the peace process.”

This should be a wake-up call for the administration. The Obama team might want to consider letting domestic pols run foreign policy. And they might put away some of their egocentric misconceptions about the power of Obama’s aura.
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