National Review Online
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
It would be a stretch to say that President Obama lost
Israel’s election. But our president has made it pretty clear what he thinks of
Benjamin Netanyahu, and last night, Israeli voters made it pretty clear what
they think of him too. Netanyahu’s Likud party easily beat its closest rival,
and now appears likely to head a conservative coalition or a centrist unity
government.
President Obama’s distaste for Israel’s reelected leader
has two explanations. Netanyahu is the most articulate, most forceful global
critic of Obama’s rabid desire for a deal with Iran. He is also the world
leader who does the best job providing an alternative to the president’s
Pollyannaish approach to Islamic terror.
Of course, Israeli voters were considering many issues
during this election, and much of the disagreement among Israeli parties is
about domestic and social debates, not security policy. Because of the gravity
of their situation, Israelis increasingly agree on questions of defense. But it
is important that they reelected the loudest, most impassioned defender of
their consensus.
President Obama’s contempt for Netanyahu is disturbing
because he is supposed to — and at times pretends to — have special solicitude
for Israel’s security. Doing so need not mean agreeing with its prime minister
on every single question, but the president’s discomfort with the avatar of
Israeli strength runs deeper than day-to-day debates. This is not confined to
the president, either: It was obvious in the Western liberal hope and
expectation that Israeli voters might share their contempt or boot a paranoid
like Netanyahu because they care more about housing costs or income inequality.
Many Americans are disturbed by the Netanyahu–Obama
animosity, and for good reason. In part, it is because they worry what it
portends for Israel, which needs allies. But it also reminds them that they
lack a leader who has a clear-eyed view of evil and understands peace through
strength. Israel reelected a man like that; we will have to wait a little
longer to elect our own.
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