President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have always been at one another’s throats. In a recent interview, Obama stated that Netanyahu’s rhetoric during Israel’s national elections was such that it had started “to erode democracy.” All of this raises the question: Who is really the aggressor in this international feud?
Last week, the democratic nation of Israel held its national elections. Despite substantial foreign pressure, Netanyahu’s Likud party claimed victory. However, in the wake of this victory for democracy in the Middle East, news has surfaced of a rather dark nature. According to Fox News, Congress has just established a panel to look into the Obama State Department’s giving $350,000 to OneVoice and the Victory 15 organization. The American-based OneVoice group openly states it mission to be the amplification of “the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution,” trying to force Israel to go back to the pre-1967 borders. This is precisely what Netanyahu’s party has worked against in recent years, citing the terroristic ways of the Palestinian National Authority.
However this money was then passed along to OneVoice’s Israeli subsidiary, Victory 15. Much like their parent, V15’s goals fly right in the face of Netanyahu. In fact, in the recent election, V15 worked tirelessly to oust Netanyahu and the Likud party, but they did not do it alone. Jeremy Bird, Obama’s 2012 national campaign director, and others affiliated with Obama, jumped on the V15 band wagon. Bird even flew to Israel in January to help V15 achieve its goal of knocking on the doors of one million Israeli citizens to get them to vote against the Likud party. V15 advocated for the middle left of the Israeli political spectrum, whose goals align much closer with the surrounding Arab countries than with the democratic nation of Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu’s Likud party petitioned last month to block the activities of OneVoice and V15, but was unsuccessful. Thankfully, the Likud still won, proving that the Israeli people stand behind the very man that the Obama administration dislikes so much, the leader of the only democratic nation in the Middle East.
Even without considering Obama’s refusal to help against a nuclear Iran threat or the radical Islamic DAESH (ISIS), it sure seems that Obama is working hard to weaken Israel. Meanwhile Netanyahu, like a rabbinical king, protects his people. As he said to Congress, “even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand.”
Although the disdain that these two world leaders have for each other is well known, there is still no conclusive evidence that Obama purposely gave the money to OneVoice and V15 to oust Netanyahu. Undoubtedly, however, Obama would have known about OneVoice’s political goals, and that they would use the money out of political motivation in a foreign country. So not only did Obama know that he was to some extent trying to control a foreign country politically, but he also used taxpayer money to do it. This could be forgivable if done against an enemy country for the benefit of the American people, but not against one of our closest allies, and for a purpose that in no way would help us. In fact, the ousting of Netanyahu would harm America. If Netanyahu were replaced with a leader more sympathetic to the Palestinian and Arab cause, a two-state solution would certainly be reached. With the recent merger of the Palestinian National Authority with the terrorist group Hamas, it is obvious that the Palestinians would not stop with the pre-1967 borders, but would instead seek, as they have many times stated, the destruction of the entire state of Israel.
As a Messianic Jew with a brother living in Israel, I am obviously terrified by all this. But it should also terrify you. Not only is Israel one of our closest allies, but it is also one of the few friendly nations in the area. The annihilation of Israel would destabilize the entire region and plunge its nations into violent war, not against each other, but against the Western world. As a country, we must stand behind our allies, especially Israel. Even if the congressional panel doesn’t charge Obama with anything, it is obvious that he had some idea of what he was doing. How does that look? Can Israel, or any country for that matter, really trust us when we pull stunts like this? At the very least, Obama must admit what he did and apologize for it, even if he really did not know how the money would be spent.