Slams editorial

In “Obama Beats Up Israel to Distract Arabs From Iran,” Judith Klinghoffer wrote in the Jewish World Review on March 11, “The glee with which the Obama administration jumped on the Jewish state for a misplaced timing of an announcement is palpable.” Wesley Pruden in “Joe’s Israeli Adventure” (JWR March 9) wrote, “There’s abundant evidence that President Obama is no friend to the Jewish state, and the Israelis must decide whether to believe Joe Biden or their own eyes and ears.” Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren called it “the worst crisis in 35 years.” ADL National Director Abe Foxman said, “We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States.”

The Washington Post reported, “Relations with Israel have been strained almost since the start of the Obama administration.”

And The Jewish Standard wrote in the March 12 editorial “A Jerusalem Affair,” “However. the announcement of the expansion in East Jerusalem was poorly timed and irresponsible at best.”

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No Arab paper could have said it any better.

The editor responds: Go back and read the whole editorial. It said, in part, “We fully support a unified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but [the] announcement is just bad public relations. The construction announcement effectively shifted the focus away from the Palestinian refusal to directly negotiate to the issue of Jewish settlements…. Israel should keep international pressure focused on the Palestinian unwillingness to compromise…. Israel should not provide the Palestinians with an excuse for making excuses.”