Ideally, the U.S. and Israel should work
out any differences privately and not
in the public realm. Also, harsh public
criticism placed on Israel is counter-
productive and unlikely to advance the
peace process.
• Undue pressure to act fast: A
sense that there is too much pressure
on Israel to put together a deal now,
as quickly as possible, which is prob-
ably not in best interest of Israel or
the Palestinians for that matter. Also,
U.S. pressure is having the opposite
effect, thereby solidifying Palestinian
and Arab refusal to enter direct talks
with Israel creating a situation where
the Palestinians depend on the U.S.
to press Israel to make more conces-
sions. This need to move so fast (the
administration has been focused on
"settlements" since Day 1) puts undue
pressure on Israel after it has done so
much already (embraced a two-state
solution, called for direct negotia-
tions and taking down 350 road block
checkpoints/road blocks since April
2008, improving freedom of move-
ment for hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians).
• Perception that U.S. is not even-
handed in its treatment of Israel:
— When the Palestinian Authority
announced the naming of a town
square after the Fatah terrorist who
helped hijack an Israeli bus in 1978,
murdering 37 civilians and 12 chil-
dren, it was met with silence by the
administration. There was a same
lack of denunciation for Iran's stolen
election and the brutal repression of
protestors in the streets of Tehran.
— Feeling that Afghanistan's Hamid
Karzai is being received more warmly
than Netanyahu and Israeli officials.
In my estimation, Israel has taken
bold steps and the P.A. has done little
to indicate its desire for peace with
Israel. P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas
has said he wants the U.S. to pressure
Israel so he can sit back and wait. Of
course, Arabs today already enjoy
many more freedoms in Israel than in
any other Arab country in the world.
Vice President Biden said recently,
"Progress occurs in the Middle East
when everyone knows there is simply
no space between the U.S. and Israel."
My humble recommendations: The
administration should make this "no
space" concept a permanent mantra
and President Obama should visit
Israel soon.
At the conclusion of our first meet-
ing (which went on for 75 minutes), all
these issues were brought up and more
— like Iran. As for Iran, where there
is a general sense of dissatisfaction
with the Obama administration for
while we wait for sanctions to work,
Iran continues to develop and enhance
their nuclear capabilities, which per-
haps is the most serious situation, a
catastrophe waiting to happen, in the
world right now.
From the outset, Emanuel acknowl-
edged that the Obama administration
"screwed up the messaging" about
its support for Israel over the first 14
months. He said that although it would
take more than a month to make up
for it, he offered the 15 of us to come
back to the White House a few weeks
later to check in on their progress.
And so true to his word, Emanuel
invited us back for a meeting on
Thursday, May 13 (just a day after Yom
Yerushalayim, which commemorates
the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967
— again, not lost on us) for another 75
minutes. This time, we were also joined
by Dan Shapiro, the deputy national
security adviser who supervises policy
for Israel and her neighbors.
We acknowledged some very pos-
itive action in the last three weeks:
a) the recent statement by Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud Barak saying
that the security relationship between
the two countries has never been
stronger;
b) the acceptance of Israel into
the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development as its
32nd member state;
c) a series of speeches by admin-
istration officials like James Jones
speaking to the strength of the eternal
bond between Israel and America;
d) an announcement of a $205 mil-
lion allocation for Israel's Iron Dome
missile defense system in addition to
our annual Israeli military aid of $3
billion.
All that said, Emanuel and Ross shared
their frustration that much of what
has been done in this short period of
time has not been accurately and com-
prehensively reported; for in their estima-
tion, the press has already written the
story it wants to get across to the public.
While grateful for all that had been
accomplished in just three weeks, the
group as a whole felt even more needs
to happen (and quickly) to rebuild the
trust between Israel and America. And
the president himself needs to work
harder to help us feel his personal
affection for the State of Israel. ❑
Rabbi Krakoff is a spiritual leader at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek of Oakland
County.
The Laker Family &
Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg
invite you to spend an evening with
Cantor Udi and Varda
SPIELMAN
Featuring Pianist Scott Stein
Special appearance by Cantor Meir Finkelstein
7:30 PM• WEDNESDAY, MAY 26
Congregation Shaarey Zedek Southfield
No Charge • Reservations are necessary
To RSVP, or for more information, please contact
Martha Goldberg at 248/357-5544 x 46
or e-mail mgoldberggshaareyzedek.org
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