Obama's Reckless Foreign Policy has Put Israel in Jeopardy

Obama’s repeated snubs and slights against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signal to Israel’s antagonists that American support is less than absolute.

It marks a significant departure from America’s unwavering commitment starting when the U.S. recognized Israel in 1948.  Since then the Jewish state has stood as a durable, reliable beachhead of Western-style democracy in a very troubled region of the world.

Obama Administration policies already have resulted in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen becoming failed states while the Sinai Peninsula contains a strong jihadist element.

And radical Islamists dedicated to the annihilation of Israel have significantly more safe havens to freely traffic in ideology, fighters and weapons that find their way to Israel’s borders.

The terrorist hegemon and Iranian proxy Hezbollah operating to its north in Lebanon has trained 150,000 missiles on the Jewish state. Iran funds Hezbollah to the tune of $800 million to $1 billion annually.

Iran’s ally in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA), encourages the unyielding knife attacks against Israelis by Palestinians.  Fatah, the political party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, recently called for killing all Israelis throughout the country—“in all their neighborhoods”—in a music video broadcast on the Fatah-run Awdah TV channel.

Hamas, which also receives significant support from Iran, continues building tunnels into Israel through which to smuggle fighters and weapons.

Rather than punish Iran for supporting the forces dedicated to Israel’s destruction, the White House gave it everything it was seeking in a nuclear agreement that neither Congress nor the Iranian parliament ever ratified.

The deal immediately released more than $100 billion in assets, which Iran—the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism—will spend on its Islamist terrorist agents.  The administration also paid $1.7 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars to settle a decades-old legal claim while Iran refuses to compensate victims in judgments against it for its atrocities.

Iran responds by test firing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) capable of delivering nuclear warheads to Israel in direct violation of UN resolutions.  It calls weak new sanctions related to the tests “illegitimate” and accelerated its development of ICBMs.  Its leaders also never backed down from their intention to wipe Israel off the map.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration stepped up U.S. spying on Israel, including using the National Security Agency to monitor Netanyahu’s private discussions.

The president claimed an incredible victory over fictitious straw men by touting diplomacy over those who would resort “to another war in the Middle East.”

Diplomatic dialogue is absolutely necessary in world affairs— especially when backed by a position of strength—but the problem with his argument is that nobody in the West has advocated for war.

If anything, the Iranian agreement steers the region closer to doomsday by legitimizing the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of a deployable nuclear weapon.

The administration’s apparent lack of support for Israel has also newly energized the boycott, disinvestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, which is a cancer destroying support for Israel in the West.

U.S. foreign policy has jeopardized Israel’s national, political and economic security more than at any other time in its history.  The next administration will need to repair the immeasurable damage after seven years of disdain and recklessness.  A new beginning anchored in unyielding support can rebuild the relationship so that it becomes stronger than ever.

Pete Hoekstra is the Senior Shillman Fellow at the Investigative Project on Terrorism and the former Chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.  He is the author of “Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya.”  Readers may write him at IPT, 5505 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20015