How Obama Abandoned Israel

How Obama  Abandoned Israel Oren: President took deliberate steps to  undermine Israel-America relationship
7:19 AM on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 - Sivan 30, 5775
	Former ambassador to the United States Michael Oren writes that President Obama deliberately undermined the U.S.-Israel relationship from his first day in office, primarily by abandoning two central tenets. From the moment he entered office, Mr. Obama promoted an agenda of championing the Palestinian cause and achieving a nuclear accord with Iran. Such policies would have put him at odds with any Israeli leader. But Mr. Obama posed an even more fundamental challenge by abandoning the two core principles of Israel’s alliance with America. The first was "no daylight" or the decision that governed Israel-U.S. relations for decades that no disagreements would go public. The U.S. and Israel always could disagree but never openly. Doing so would encourage common enemies and render Israel vulnerable. The other principle was "no surprises." Obama made numerous significant policy changes toward Israel without consulting the Jewish state. Mr. Obama delivered his Cairo speech, with its unprecedented support for the Palestinians and its recognition of Iran’s right to nuclear power, without consulting Israel. Similarly, in May 2011, the president altered 40 years of U.S. policy by endorsing the 1967 lines with land swaps—formerly the Palestinian position—as the basis for peace-making. If Mr. Netanyahu appeared to lecture the president the following day, it was because he had been assured by the White House, through me, that no such change would happen. Now, as the Middle East unravels, Oren concludes that the United States and Israel must restore these two key principles to remain strong allies. If not, Israel will lose its key benefactor and the U.S. will lose its only friend in the Middle East.