In Israel's Desperate Hour, Obama Leads from Behind
By Ken Blackwell
TownHall.com
“We have your back,” President Obama told
Israelis when he visited that embattled country
recently. Way back, apparently. Mr. Obama’s
administration famously claimed to “lead from
behind” in overthrowing Libya’s strongman, Khaddafi.
Young Sergeant Benjamin Anthony spoke to the
Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Washington
Summit this week. Sgt. Anthony described a different
vision of leadership. Ahalai he gave as the Hebrew
word for “after me.” Officers in the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF) they should lead from the front. That
used to be America’s idea of leadership, too.
You cannot say Secretary John Kerry isn’t alert to
his opportunities. He sees another chance to be a
peacemaker. He is rushing to the Mideast to broker a
cease-fire. Sgt. Anthony says Israel needs a victory
over HAMAS terrorists who have been hiding rockets
in schools and hospitals.
Kerry wants Israelis to stop trying to root out
those who have sent more than 9,000 rockets into
Israel. Canada’s
National Post recently reported that the
UNWRA—the world body’s refugee agency—closed down a
school it was operating in Gaza after a cache of
HAMAS rockets was discovered next door. The UN
bureaucrats did what they usually do: they turned
the rockets over to “local authorities.” In Gaza,
that means they gave the rockets back to HAMAS. The
cartoonist wasn’t kidding when he said HAMAS means
“hiding among mosques and schools.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the
CUFI gathering via satellite.
He has said the moral difference between Israel and
its enemies is simple: “We use missiles to defend
our civilians; they use civilians to defend their
missiles.” An earlier Israeli Prime Minister, Golda
Meir, was a young Jewish girl raised in Milwaukee.
She spoke to her Arab enemies in these poignant
words: “We can forgive you for killing our children;
we cannot forgive you for making us kill your
children.”
HAMAS is banking on CNN and the rest of the gullible
Western media to carry pictures of Mideast violence
into American homes and European homes. The late PLO
chief, Yasser Arafat, saw the possibilities of CNN
for his terrorist plans. He learned that airline
hijacking could be a successful way to murder your
way onto the front pages and into viewers’ living
rooms.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) addressed an appreciative
crowd at CUFI. He described his 2011 visit to Israel
as part of a CODEL (Congressional Delegation). Sen.
Scott’s bus was northbound when he saw a southbound
Israeli bus hit by one of HAMAS’s rockets. Blood and
body parts were scattered all over the street.
Still, Sen. Scott was amazed to see Israeli police
actually training Palestinian Arabs as police
officers. The Jews’ view was that if law and justice
prevailed anywhere, people might just get a thirst
for law and justice. “I saw Jewish policemen acting
out the Gospel of Matthew (5:38-43).” Sen. Scott
will be an increasingly important voice in the U.S.
Senate, but also in the black community, serving as
a counter to anti-Semites like Jesse Jackson, Al
Sharpton, and Jeremiah Wright.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made a
point of saying she did not speak for CUFI. She
repeated that message three times. But she was
speaking to CUFI. And her powerful message was that
as bad as HAMAS rockets are, an Iranian nuclear
weapon is vastly worse. “Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing,” she quoted
from Psalm 2. Never have those words been more
prophetic. Jerusalem is described in Hebrew as “the
navel of the world.” She related how in Berlin,
police allowed a Muslim demonstrator to use their
police car loudspeaker. He was supposed to quiet the
angry mob of protestors against Israel. Instead, he
used his microphone to harangue the mob. “Allahu
Akbar! (God is Great).” “Death to the Jews” cried
this representative of the religion of peace. And
the German police? They thought he was going to
calm, not incite the crowd. They quickly learned the
meaning of Takiya. That Persian word means it is
permissible for Muslims to deceive unbelievers.
Congresswoman Bachmann, a key member of the House
Intelligence Committee, pointed to the state of the
world with President Obama leading from behind and
noted White House spokesman Josh Earnest’s
jaw-dropping claim: “The Obama administration has
substantially improved the tranquility of the global
community” Did he really say that earnestly? There
may be a Sea of Tranquility on the Moon, but nowhere
on Earth.
Despite crises erupting around the world, Mr. Obama
seems blissfully distracted. He has just announced
another four-month extension for Iran. The red line
he drew in Syria has been turned into a real red
line as oceans of blood are spilled there by
ISIS—the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. And the
deadline for talks about Iran’s lunge for nuclear
weapons has been extended and extended. Mr. Obama is
again kicking the can down the road—until three
weeks after the mid-term elections. Be careful, Mr.
President, that’s a nuclear can you are kicking!
Rep. Bachmann sobered the crowd at CUFI by noting
that meanwhile, Iran’s 19,000 centrifuges are
spinning, Iran is developing Inter-continental
Ballistic Missiles that can reach the East Coast of
the U.S. and Vladimir Putin used the distraction of
Israel’s response to HAMAS rocket attacks to quietly
announce a new trade deal with Iran.
This wouldn’t be the same Russia Hillary Clinton and
John Kerry see as our partner for peace, would it,
the Russia that President Obama is relying on to
help stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program?
Congresswoman Bachmann underlined her point: This is
the first time in U.S. history we have an
anti-Israel president. She again disclaimed she was
speaking for the Christians United for Israel
organization. But the audience of Christians leaped
to their feet to applaud her bold statement
nonetheless.
CUFI”s Executive Director David Brog brought the
house to order with his moving closing.
Young Sean Carneli, originally from South Padre
Island, Texas, died in Gaza fighting for Israel.
The government in Jerusalem was concerned that the
young soldier might not have family members able to
come to his funeral in time, for Jews must bury
their dead quickly. Not to worry: 40,000 Israelis
crowded the highways, Brog reported, treating this
son of America, this soldier of Zion, as one of
their own.
In Israel’s desperate hour, Sean Carneli didn’t lead
from behind.