By Larry Gordon
“For more than two millennia,” he said, “the story of Hanukkah has reminded the world of the Jewish people’s perseverance and the persistence of faith, even against daunting odds.”
“May the flicker of each flame in every menorah remind us all of the profound miracles in our own lives,” he offered. “And may the light of hope we shed continue to drive out darkness and brighten the futures we build for our families, our neighbors, our communities, and our world.”
These were Barack Obama’s words issued as Jews the world over were about to begin the eight-day Chanukah celebration. But perhaps his administration is the darkness that is about to be driven out, as his time in office comes to a conclusion, and none too soon.
The above allusions to the miracles of Chanukah and the resilience and perseverance of the Jewish people were made at just about the same time that the president was instructing his United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power, to abstain on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion and construction as well as the right of Jews to be sovereign in East Jerusalem, including at the Kotel and surrounding area.
This was the first time in over 30 years that the U.S. failed to protect Israel from damaging diplomatic condemnation. More than anything else, however, it was President Obama abusing U.S. policy in order to exercise a personal grudge he has developed against Prime Minister Netanyahu—and we can all rest assured that the feelings are mutual.
The powers that be in the U.S. know extremely well that the Palestinians’ agenda is neither a productive nor an honorable one. To side with them and countries that support them at this juncture is not so much an epic betrayal of Israel by the United States, but rather is just another notch in a string of failures accrued by Mr. Obama’s foreign-policy apparatus in a long line of international fiascos.
And when you imagine the hysteria emanating from the left about their feared future Trump administration policy, it is an awesome mystery how there is no concern that Barack Obama is determined to further stain his presidency by lashing out because of his personal grudges that have been collected during his tenure.
But then again, and sadly so, we cannot lay the full blame on President Obama himself. Just look at the photos of a cross-section of members of the Jewish community falling over themselves at the White House two weeks ago at the Obamas’ annual Chanukah reception. It was a nice event, but our participation—especially that of the Orthodox Jewish community—sends mixed signals to Mr. Obama.
Now, after eight years at the helm, and despite a presidency that he well understands will go down in history as one of the greatest in terms of its lack of accomplishment, Mr. Obama is lashing out at the one object of his fury that he has been after since he began his presidency back in 2009.
The Obama presidency was supposed to be transformative; instead it was DOA—dead on arrival. Every idea and initiative, whether of a domestic or foreign nature, has been misdirected and failed. His pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba will not happen. Syria is a larger mess than ever before despite the president’s rhetoric about progress toward a cease-fire or peace, neither of which he ever achieves despite assurances to the contrary.
The Middle East is a mess—except for Israel, the one bright light of democracy that continues to grow and shine. It is most likely that success which continues to gnaw at Mr. Obama, whose warm heart was never too warm to harbor a cold spot for Israel, as has been demonstrated repeatedly.
But then again, Barack Obama looks around at the people he surrounds himself with—many of them American Jews—who encourage him to be tough on Israel especially now that there will be no electoral backlash as he prepares to ride off into the political sunset. And he believes that he will continue to be relevant even after he leaves office at noon on January 20.
Now, almost 50 years since Israel fought off its enemies and liberated the Jewish ancestral homeland, somehow there are people out there like Mr. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry (another personality of nearly zero accomplishments) who believe that the great gains of 1967—when Mr. Obama was five years old—can be rolled back because a few diplomats on First Avenue in New York raised their hands over their head.
Fortunately, Barack Obama is going away soon. The president is smart enough to know that the concept of two states is a dead letter, but that does not mean he cannot leave Israel with the challenge of putting out some diplomatic fires that he can set on his way out the door and into the dustbin of history.
Sure, like all genuine supporters of Israel, I’m angry at what the Obama endgame objective is. But the events of these last few days are a lesson to us all on multiple levels. We have stated it here repeatedly over the years. Mr. Obama does not believe that he is any less a friend of Israel because of his most recent action. If anything, he is convinced that he and his Middle East experts know what is best for Israel over the long term.
He additionally believes that Benjamin Netanyahu harbors extreme right-wing positions that are not representative by and large of the position on Israel of most Jews in the world, that is in Israel as well as the U.S.
This type of delusional thinking leads the president to say things like he did the other day when he said that if the law had allowed him to run again, he could have beaten Donald Trump. Sure, as stated above, I am angry at what he is trying to do, but that does not, objectively speaking, improve his record as one of our most incompetent presidents in history. And his friends and supporters are concerned about Donald Trump’s competence. That’s laughable.
Reversing the damage inflicted on Israel by the Security Council resolution and whatever other harmful moves the president is cooking up to be applied between now and his exit will take time. It will be difficult but not impossible. We will have to leave it to the lawyers to figure out a way to neutralize any potential damage.
It is not news that whether you are an advocate of BDS or just do not support Israel, there are significant elements of old-fashioned anti-Semitism in whatever formula you may subscribe to. Barack Obama is not an anti-Semite, but he has traces of that malady that are emerging and that he is having difficulty suppressing.
So where do all these machinations fit into the Divine plan for modern Israel and the Jewish people? The gentile prophet Bila’am—another of those personalities bent on doing damage to the Jewish nation—said that we are a nation destined to not be accepted or welcomed with open arms by the nations of the world. This is what he said: “How shall I curse whom G‑d has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the L‑rd has not denounced? ‘As I see him from the top of the rocks, and I look at him from the hills; behold, a people who dwells apart, and will not be reckoned among the nations . . .’”
Last week and this week, the UN and the Obama administration were determined to set the nation of Israel apart from all the other nations of the world. They wanted to inflict damage. They may have inadvertently just been fulfilling biblical prophecy.
Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.