T. Belman. This is the same guy that cut off our military supplies during last Gaza war, shut down our international aviation for a day, is trying to force us to go back to indefensible borders, that interfered in our elections, that put the Muslim Brotherhood in power in Egypt, that is backing away from most international commitments for the safety of allies, that pulled US troops out of Iraq, that abandoned Yemen, That partners with Qatar, Turkey and Iran, all enemies of Israel, That didn’t insist on Iran changing or stop threatening or promising to destroy Israel, and on and on and we’re supposed to believe him. Like Golda Meir said to the then President, “by the time you honour your commitment, we’ll be dead”.
These remarks and more were said in an interview of Obama by Thomas Friedman. MUST WATCH. on April 4/15
President casts Iran talks as part of broader foreign policy, says rift with Israel pained him on a personal level.
US President Barack Obama sought to allay Israeli fears over the agreement the US and other world powers have reached with Iran on its nuclear program, telling the New York Times on Sunday that “if anybody messes with Israel, America will be there.”
“I have to respect the fears that the Israeli people have,” Obama said, “and I understand that Prime Minister Netanyahu is expressing the deep-rooted concerns that a lot of the Israeli population feel about this, but what I can say to them is: Number one, this is our best bet by far to make sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, and number two, what we will be doing even as we enter into this deal is sending a very clear message to the Iranians and to the entire region that if anybody messes with Israel, America will be there.
Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that the deal endangers Israel’s existence, and has listed the issues he believes would turn a “bad deal” into a “good deal.”
Obama acknowledged that his pursuit of diplomacy with Tehran has caused a strain between the two states, but that the he remains committed to Israel’s security. He maintained that the agreement with Iran was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see whether or not we can at least take the nuclear issue off the table.”
“Now, what you might hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu, which I respect, is the notion, ‘Look, Israel is more vulnerable. We don’t have the luxury of testing these propositions the way you do,’ and I completely understand that,” Obama said.
“But what I would say to them is that not only am I absolutely committed to making sure that they maintain their qualitative military edge … what I’m willing to do is to make the kinds of commitments that would give everybody in the neighborhood, including Iran, a clarity that if Israel were to be attacked by any state, that we would stand by them.”
The president told the Times that the rift with Israel and accusations that he has sold out the country had pained him greatly.
“It has been personally difficult for me to hear … expressions that somehow … this administration has not done everything it could to look out for Israel’s interest,” he said.
He added: “What I would say to the Israeli people is … that there is no formula, there is no option, to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that will be more effective than the diplomatic initiative and framework that we put forward — and that’s demonstrable.”
America might be but no thanks to you Obama so stop trying to take credit!
@ Bert:
I heard Netanyahu giving a superb interview to CNN. The Friedman item is way out of this league.
It is alarming that we have an Obama collaborator in the person of Tom Friedman to help Obama get his message out. We lack a powerful American Jewish spokesperson to hit back hard and expose every Obama lie and deception.
@ NormanF:
You’ve got something against used car salesmen, NF? That’s the first thing I did for a living after I reached my ETS day and came home from service with Uncle Sam in summer 1955. I worked for three successive dealerships in Chicago before using part of my GI Bill of Rights funding to start toward the first of two university degrees.
I sure as hell kept my promises. But they all were promises to help boost the dealerships’ profits, which was their only reason for keeping me employed there.
In any case, most of the customers would have bought brand new Cadillacs and not used Chevies, if they could have arranged financing. Which, on Chicago’s old-time “automobile row” on South Michigan Avenue, was difficult. Customers with reasonably good credit got GMAC financing. The others got high-interest loans from a company owned and operated by the Chicago Outfit. When dealing with the latter, we all knew better than to inquire how they enforced collections of their loans.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Israel is Obama’s Serpico.
What amazes me is “chutzpah” of that fellow.
Does he honestly believe that anyone will buy his new series of falsehoods?
What is even more important. Will Neyanyahu again crawl under that mantle?
We are heading into very dangerous times and reliance on the administration is suicidal.
The man is long on talk short on deeds.
He makes used car salesmen look good.