September 21, 2011- Obama and Israel at the UN- A New Leader For Labor

A Daily Analysis

The myth of President Obama being "anti-Israel" came to an end today, with what was clearly the most pro-Israel speech by an American President at the UN in a long time, if ever before. In the speech President Obama stated:

But understand this as well: America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable. Our friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. And so we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that Israel faces every single day.

Let us be honest with ourselves: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. Israel’s citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses. Israel’s children come of age knowing that throughout the region, other children are taught to hate them. Israel, a small country of less than eight million people, looks out at a world where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off of the map. The Jewish people carry the burden of centuries of exile and persecution, and fresh memories of knowing that six million people were killed simply because of who they are. Those are facts. They cannot be denied.

The Jewish people have forged a successful state in their historic homeland. Israel deserves recognition. It deserves normal relations with its neighbors. And friends of the Palestinians do them no favors by ignoring this truth, just as friends of Israel must recognize th e need to pursue a two-state solution with a secure Israel next to an independent Palestine.

President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu clearly had a common goal-- to try to stop the Palestinian push for State recognition, without the US having to use its veto. For those who questioned whether the US would use employ a veto in this case, President Obama made it clear to the Palestinian leadership that the US unquestionably would use the veto.

Its still not clear how the next two days will play out. However, one option seems to be the possibility that the Palestinians might request membership and then have the resolution tabled for study.

After the speech Netanyahu and Obama met. Their remarks before the meeting showed, that for the moment, there is very little tension between them.

There can be no doubt that some of what we saw today had to do with the fact that this an election year. But some of what we saw was clearly a continuation of US policy. At least for the moment this was a clearly a tactical victory for Israel, strategically it si another matter.

There is an interesting article in the current issue of New York Magazine, called:

Shelly Yachimovich has won the labor party's primary election. This is good news for the Israeli political system. How it will play out now we will only know in the coming months. Though what is clear, is the Labor party, which was left for dead a few months ago, is no longer dead.