How many times does the Obama administration have to jab Israel in the ribs before there is a reaction from someone other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who not only is 10 times the head of state Barack Obama will ever be the best day of his life, but matches – maybe outmatches – him intellectually as well)?
Here\’s an answer for you, via excerpts from Ari Yashar\’s article at israelnationalnews.com:
LikudCentral Committee Chairman DannyDanon on Monday weighed in on the spat between Prime MinisterBinyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama\’s administration,warning that Israel cannot be bought.
Thefalling out focuses on a construction project tobuild 2,610 new homes in the Jewish Jerusalem neighborhoodof Givat Hamatos, which while slatedfor construction since 2012 was only given final approvallast week, opening the path for bids sometime in the future.
“PresidentObama is mistaken if he thinks American military aid, which is givenfor reasons of American strategic interests, buys him the right todictate to Israel not to build in Jerusalem,” stated Danon.
Thestatement comes in response to the US State Department\’s veiledthreat in saying American defense systems, primarily the Iron Domeanti-missile system, was an “American value” in response toNetanyahu\’s words on Sunday.
Accordingto Netanyahu, the criticism is “against the American values. Andit doesn\’t bode well for peace. The idea that we\’d have thisethnic purification as a condition for peace, I think it\’santi-peace.”
WhiteHouse press secretary Josh Earnest went on the attack again onMonday, responding by saying “when it comes to American values,it\’s American values that led to this country\’s unwaveringsupport of Israel. It\’s American values that have led us to fund anIron Dome system.”
In case you are unaware, the residential units are being built in a part of the city that pro-Palestinian Arab supporters refer to as “East Jerusalem”, so they can establish a separation point of the city and petition for it being handed over as the capital of a Palestinian Arab state.
And, also in case you are unaware, the proposed residential units are going to house both Jews and Arabs.
So the Obama administration\’s objection, therefore, is apparently that housing would be built there for any Jews at all – hey, it\’s going to be the capital of “Palestine”, isn\’t it?
In other words, “East Jerusalem” has to be what the nazis called “Judenrein”: Jew-free.
How would you react to that if you were an Israeli?
And how would you, as an Israeli, react to the Obama administration throwing up funding (partial funding, actually) for the Iron Dome technology – which is being shared with the United States – as a basis for keeping Jewish residents out of a part of Israel\’s capital city?
I doubt you would react positively. Well, neither does Chairman Danon. And, to say the very least, he is not alone.
I have written numbers of times about the “aid” given to Israel (I put that word in quotes because, for most countries in the world, “aid” means money is handed to them like welfare checks, with nothing given in return while, by contrast, Israel gives dramatically more back to the USA than what it gets).
I think, in the next few days, I will remind readers of what the USA gets back from Israel in shared technology and military intelligence – not to mention that Israel is one of the most loyal allies of the USA in the United Nations (compare its voting record with the USA\’s – and then compare the voting records of countries which also get a lot of aid from us, and give absolutely nothing back).
You will see, as I have shown in the past, that “aid” to Israel is one of the greatest bargains we have ever made.
But for the moment, all I ask is that you understand how repulsive the administration\’s position is regarding whether Israel builds residential housing in Jerusalem…..and how relieved Israel will almost certainly be when this woeful administration is finally out of office.
