It has been the pattern for decades now: whenever Israel starts to defend itself, the U.S. President tries to get it to stop. But now that Israel is dealing with a fanatically and consistently anti-Israel President, more and more Israelis (and pro-Israel Americans) are realizing that Israel is on its own against the jihadi onslaught. And so this time the President’s word doesn’t carry as much weight as it did in the past.
An update on this story. “Obama speaks with Netanyahu, offering to broker ceasefire with Hamas,” by Michael Wilner, Jerusalem Post, July 11, 2014:
VIENNA — The United States is prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu by phone today.
In the call, Obama “reiterated the United States’ strong condemnation of continuing rocket fire into Israel by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against these attacks,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.
But Netanyahu has ruled out a ceasefire with Hamas in the short-term. On the contrary, the Israeli leader has vowed a series of additional stages to Operation Protective Edge— his government’s response to continued rocket fire on Israeli towns and cities, after Hamas, a terrorist organization, stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets in the coastal territory over the last several years.
A ceasefire is “not even on the agenda,” Netanyahu told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, just hours before his call with the US leader.
The president also expressed concern, the press secretary’s office continued, “about the risk of further escalation and emphasized the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm.”
The two discussed the impetus for the crisis: the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, one of whom was also an American citizen. They also discussed a revenge attack in East Jerusalem by extremist Israelis against an innocent Arab teenager, which compounded the crisis.
Obama “acknowledged,” the White House added, “Israel’s efforts to resolve this case.”
“I would remind you who is at fault here, and that is Hamas,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday, facing a series of accusatory questions from a Palestinian journalist for al-Quds TV in Washington….