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Obama Visited
The Right Places
Enjoy friends from the
old neighborhood
and make new friends at
the Fleischman Residence/
Blumberg Plaza
p
resident Barack Obama's first
uisite stop for all dignitaries visiting
presidential trip to Israel was
Israel, the president showed recogni-
coined "Operation Desert
tion that Jews have been the subject
shmooze" by pundit Jeffrey Goldberg.
of hatred, persecution and annihila-
Of course the talk was important, both tion for millennia, and reaffirmed
the public statements and speeches
the indispensable role of the State of
by the president — particularly his
Israel as a haven for the Jewish peo-
riveting speech to university students
ple. He clearly and poignantly noted
— as well as the private
that, "Israel does not exist
discussions with Israeli
because of the Holocaust,
Prime Minister Benjamin
but with the survival of
Netanyahu on Iran, the
a strong Jewish state of
peace process, Syria and
Israel, such a Holocaust
U.S.-Israel relations.
will never happen again!'
But equally significant
The tour of the Iron
were the silent visuals at
Dome demonstrated
the places Obama chose to
empathy for Israelis' feel-
visit in Israel, and the mes-
ing of being surrounded
sages those images sent to
by hostile forces - which
Israelis, Americans, and
was only reinforced by
Abra ham
particularly to those who
the Hamas-fired rockets
Fox man
question Israel's legitimacy
landing in the southern
Comm entary
and aim to threaten its exis-
Israeli town of Sderot on
tence.
Israel the following day,
In a signal to the many Arab and
and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Muslim leaders and figures that
Khamenei pledging to "raze Tel Aviv
regularly deny or diminish the Jewish
and Haifa to the ground" if "they [the
connection to the land and charge
Zionists] were to make the mistake of
that Jews are interlopers in the region,
attacking Iran!'
the president visited the Shrine of the
While on Mount Herzl, the presi-
Book to view the captivating Dead
dent acknowledged and paid tribute
Sea Scrolls. In examining the scrolls,
to Israel's yearning and commitment
which include the earliest known cop-
for peace and reconciliation with a
ies of the Bible and ancient Jewish
visit to the grave of slain Israeli Prime
texts, President Obama attested to the
Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
historic and irrevocable Jewish con-
Finally, in a stop at a showcase of
nection to the land of Israel.
seven Israel companies in the field of
Validating the legitimacy and dura- robotics, medicine and agriculture,
bility of Zionism, the Jewish nation-
the president embraced the miracle
alist movement, the president paid
of a country only 65 years old becom-
homage to Theodor Herzl, the "father ing an economic powerhouse and one
of modern Zionism" with a visit to
of the world's leading technological
his grave. The stop was a powerful
innovators.
rejoinder to Turkish Prime Minister
With this carefully crafted itiner-
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in a
ary, the president celebrated many
speech in February called Zionism "a
milestones in the history of the
crime against humanity" as well as to Jewish people and the Jewish state,
those who have defamed the move-
while sending carefully targeted mes-
ment for decades by charging that
sages that the United States believes
"Zionism is racism:'
in Jewish nationalism and stands
In a message to Hamas, Hezbollah,
with the State of Israel.
While we will certainly remember
Iran and even Syria, the president
toured an Iron Dome battery, the
the shmoozing and the speeches, the
U.S.-funded anti-missile system that
last word from President Obama's
intercepted hundreds of incoming
visit to Israel will not only be the
rockets during the November Israel-
optics and the symbolism, but the
Hamas clashes. The visit told those
presidential pledge of "Atem Lo
who physically threaten Israel that
Levad" - you are not alone.
the United States will support and
Abraham Foxman is national director of
defend Israel against attack.
the Anti-Defamation League. This piece
At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust
originally appeared in the Times of Israel.
memorial and museum, and a req-
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a residence of
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OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT
JEWISH SENIOR LIFE
III'
March 28 • 2013
47