Near the end of his insider’s account of the Bush administration’s efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace, author Elliott Abrams cautions about temptations in Washington to put “daylight” between America and the Jewish state. Whatever the circumstances, he writes, the result is that Israel always feels less secure and is thus less likely “to take risks for peace.”
The passage is part of a riveting chronicle of the last administration, but also serves as a not-so-subtle slap at the current one. With Barack Obama preparing for Tuesday’s trip to Israel and the West Bank, his first as president, Abrams offers a timely warning that Obama won’t achieve anything if he repeats the mistakes of the past, including his own.
The absence of serious peace talks during the last four years is largely a product of his misguided bid to tilt away from Israel and toward the Arabs. It was a policy Obama revealed in Cairo in 2009, pursued throughout his first term and, by making Israel nemesis Chuck Hagel defense secretary, continues in his second.
To continue reading Michael Goodwin's New York Post column on Obama trip to Israel, click here.
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