More evidence of the administration’s confusion in foreign policy and national security was offered recently when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat was somehow connected to more Israeli concessions in the so-called “peace process” with the Palestinians. In case there are doubts as to the administration’s position on that issue, the Jerusalem Post reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reiterated the point this weekend in a briefing to pro-Israel activists.
This is very discouraging news for many reasons, not the least of which is that Iran’s Holocaust-denying dictator wants Israel “wiped off the map” and Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Last week, General Ataollah Salehi, commander of the Iranian army, said in a televised interview, “I don’t think we will need more than 11 days to wipe Israel out of existence.”
Israel is a key ally, a democratic republic on the front line in the war against Islamofascism. Iran is an Islamic theocracy led by a fanatical madman who is frantically seeking nuclear weapons. Israel is facing an existential threat and a second Holocaust from Iran. And yet we are pressuring Israel to make concessions to the Jew-hating terrorists in Hamas in exchange for support in confronting Iran. It’s like being told to pick your poison.
And what kind of state are we asking the Israelis to help create? Consider this report from last week’s Jerusalem Post:
“…a Palestinian Authority ‘military court’ on Tuesday sentenced a Palestinian man to death by hanging after finding him guilty of selling land to Jews. The verdict came shortly after the PA’s chief Islamic judge, Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, issued yet another fatwa (religious decree) banning Muslims from selling land or houses to Jews. …The man sentenced to death is Anwar Brigith, 59, from the village of Bet Umar, north of Hebron.
“The three-judge panel found the defendant guilty of violating PA laws that bar Palestinians from selling property to ‘the enemy.’ In its ruling, the court, which convened in Hebron, said that Brigith had acted in violation of a Palestinian ‘military law’ dating back to 1979, which states that it is forbidden for a Palestinian to sell land to Jews. The accused was also found guilty of violating a law dating back to 1958 that calls for a boycott against Israel, as well as another law from 1953 that bans trade with Israelis.
“The judges issued the verdict unanimously and pointed out that the defendant did not have the right to appeal…”
This is the evil we are demanding Israel make concessions to in exchange for support in dealing with Iran. It is obscene, but I bet you didn’t hear about it from Big Media, because it completely undermines the administration’s push for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Shlomo Mostofsky, president of the National Council of Young Israel representing 150 synagogues in the United States, issued a statement demanding action from the Obama Administration.
He said, “The United States cannot in good faith engage in a conversation about peace with the Palestinians while they continue to advocate a policy that is so deeply rooted in hatred. Before the U.S. can contemplate partnering with the Palestinian Authority … it must insist that they abandon these bigoted policies that incite hatred and ill-will against the state of Israel and the Jewish people.”
I couldn’t agree more.