Israelis refusing Trump’s Kool-Aid. Trump vs Obama, no contest. Trump fails to acknowledge or prosecute Jewish hate crimes at home.
Trump did not declare America’s unwavering support for Israel. He did not urge the Arab world to finally come to terms with Israel’s existence.
He did not even include Israel in a list of countries in the Middle East fighting terror.
In this choice, he starkly differed from his predecessor. Barack Obama, in his famous 2009 Cairo speech, mentioned Israel 23 times. Indeed, he called it the “second major source of tension” that Americans and Arabs need to discuss. While Obama made an effort to appear balanced and fair to all sides, he left no doubt about American support for the Jewish state and even called on the Arab world to consider adapting some of his views.
“Threatening Israel with destruction — or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews — is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve,” Obama declared.
Obama made plain that the American people’s alliance with Israel was unbreakable.