T. Belman. It is easy to explain Amidror’s embrace. Even as Obama was breaking our balls diplomatically, he was taking credit for the growing support and cooperation between the US Military and the IDF. Military cooperation is at an all time high. So it would be safe to say that McMaster is a friend of the IDF. But is he a friend of Israel?
The left in Israel and the US wanted Obama to push his two-state solution involving borders based on the ’67 lines. If that is your political disposition, then you would agree with Amidror. You would even think Obama to have been a friend of Israel. Keep in mind that the IDF is very much supportive of the left policies.
But those of us on the right, are right to want the removal of McMaster for keeping the Obama people in the NSC and removing the supporters of both Trump and Israel. We much prefer Trump to Obama and see McMaster as an Obama man in many ways.
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman explain why they think US National Security Adviser Gen. (ret.) H.R. McMaster is Israel friendly.
By Yaakov Amidror, Eran Lerman, JPOST
It was sad to see scurrilous and harmful personal attacks launched by some American Jews and even a few Israelis at US National Security Adviser Gen. (ret.) H.R. McMaster. A recent column in The Jerusalem Post even called for his dismissal.
But such an attack is not mere opinion; it is an offense against the truth, against basic decency and against the best interests of Israel as we see them. In the opinion of many in the professional Israeli defense establishment who have come to know Gen. McMaster over the years, directly and indirectly, the general is a friend.
Israeli officers and scholars who have worked with McMaster say that he was always highly appreciative of Israel and of its contributions to the security of the US. They attest to his broad support for and admiration of the IDF. It is absurd to assert that all these years, hidden underneath McMaster’s friendliness was a grudge against Israel that the general is now free to act on. We reject this churlish insinuation. And whatever the reasons may have been for his decision to relieve certain senior National Security Council officials of their duties, antisemitic or anti-Israeli sentiments were certainly not part of the calculus.
Israelis and friends of Israel in the US do not need to agree with every position McMaster has taken, nor should the general be immune to specific policy criticism, such as the Trump administration’s failure to put forward coherent policies on Syria or Iran. But McMaster is not an enemy. It is wrong to assault his personal reputation, especially when the attack is based on hearsay and driven by parties with an axe to grind.
To be drawn so blatantly and aggressively into a personal personnel feud, inside an administration which is still (regrettably) in its formative stages, is both morally and professionally wrong.
McMaster, and the other generals who now form the backbone of the Trump administration, should be treated as representatives of an American defense establishment whose positive views of Israel are by now an important aspect of the special relationship, and whose importance within the American system has grown steadily since 9/11.
The days of anti-Israel attitudes in the Pentagon are long gone. So are the days in which Americans reviled their own soldiers for the entanglement in Vietnam. Men in uniform are now America’s heroes, and Trump’s vital assistants. Therefore, to invent or endorse baseless allegations against one of their best is morally reprehensible and politically irresponsible.
***
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror was National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the research division in IDF Military Intelligence.
Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman was deputy director for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council and held senior posts in IDF Military Intelligence for over 20 years.
Remember that Obama and his friends touted him as a good friend of Israel. We live in a world where words are cheap and actions are ignored. If McMaster is a friend of Israel let him show it by acting against Palestinian violence and terrorism.
@ Russell:
@ woolymammoth:
@ Russell:
I just noticed that in the second sentence of my preface, I wrote Trump instead of Obama.
The sentence should read, “even when Obama was breaking our balls diplomatically…”
I fully agree with Ted on this McMaster must go. He may appear to be a friend of Israel on the surface but he is certainly hindering Trump with foreign policy and he is removing pro-Trump people whilst retaining Obama appointees and Leftist policy supporters wherever he can. All-in-all this cannot be good for Israel in the long run.
Amidror’s attitude is very interesting, for him. I always think of him as a disciple of Abba Eban, that is a master in constructive ambiguity. Eban, would speak endlessly and no one understood what the heck the elitist was ever actually talking about. Being a very intelligent, probably charming diplomat, everyone virtually liked him. I am not suggesting that everyone loves Amidror, however; this article is the first time I perceive him to be angry. I do not understand this.
After reading this piece by Amidror, I am even more convinced then before that McMaster needs to go and probably the same is true for the windbag Amidror.
What Amidror says could be quite true, that McMaster is not an enemy of Israel. but is the corollary true. The fact that McMaster has always been very appreciative and nice to the IDF senior officials who were over with him on exercise and defence matters is generally the normal attitude towards visitors in matters like this in just about any civilised country. That most of our IDF machers are Lefties is not to our taste at all, and maybe they got on with McMaster so well, because of that. Remember, it was during the Obama debacle.
But the way he’s been firing the strongest Trump supporters and keeping Obama holdovers is strongly suspicious, and, of course not our business but is being dealt with by the capable Trump people still there in strong positions. Who knows the inner workings of the State Dept anyway. Many right there don’t so we hardly would.
For me, anyone,… after all the exposure of the corruption, the incitement, the lies the brainwashing of 3-4 generations of children, the blatant terrorism and calls for obscene murders, who STILL advocates a 2-state “solution” (it’s become like a mantra) is not a friend. but an enemy. .