Israel Lands On Obama's Front Burner

Politico: Violence Means Obama And Clinton Will Have To Address Middle East Problem Early, Despite Other Challenges

(The Politico)  This story was written by Ben Smith And Harry Siegel.

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Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza serve as a reminder that President-elect Barack Obama and his nominee to be secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will not get to choose the world they inherit January 20.

The incoming administration had planned to focus on the economic crisis and recalibrating U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan in its early months - but the Israeli assault on Hamas may have instantly changed that calculus.

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Hotsheet Blog: Obama's Many Defenses Of Israel

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"For all the talk of putting the (Middle East) conflict on the back burner, it's going force itself onto the front burner," said Daniel Levy, a fellow at the New America Institute. Levy said that if the conflict in Gaza is still ongoing when Obama takes office, he will face regional and international pressure to broker a settlement.

"It could involve the administration very early,” Levy said.

Obama’s views on the Israeli action remain opaque. Even as the attack continued into its third day Monday, with a Palestinian death toll topping 300 and Israel threatening a ground invasion, Obama had yet to say a word about the crisis, on the grounds that President Bush (who has also been silent) must take the lead.

There were growing signs Monday that the air strikes - which came in response to increased rocket fire from Gaza, which is governed by Hamas - could be accompanied by a ground incursion. Israel’s leaders signaled that this could be an extended conflict, while emphatically denying any intention of reoccupying the independently governed territory.

Though both sides in the Middle East are intensely aware that this battle will establish facts on the ground in the region for the new administration, Obama’s advisors have sent only vague signals, with David Axelrod on “Face the Nation” Sunday calling Israel a “great ally” and citing America’s “special relationship” with the Jewish state.

In a visit this summer to Israel, Obama did appear to give implicit approval to such a strike, saying that, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”

When Obama does speak, his words will be carefully parsed - particularly by decision makers in Jerusalem weighing how long to continue the offensive in the face of worldwide calls for a ceasefire.

“His choices will be pretty clear: He can either say he supports Israel in its efforts to neutralize Hamas in the Gaza Strip or he can say that he emphasizes restraint on both sides, which puts the onus on both sides and attempts to bring both sides back to the table,” said Jonathan Schanzer, the director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center in Washington.

A well-worn geopolitical cliché holds that every crisis contains an opportunity. But for Obama - a president-in-waiting who faces daunting dilemmas across the domestic and foreign policy spectrum - the Israeli crackdown on Hamas seems unlikely to do anything but complicate his approach to a region that he had clearly hoped to keep low on his to-do list for awhile.

Israeli leaders see the faint possibility that, on one hand, the attack could weaken and further isolate Hamas and its sponsor Iran, paving the way for a return of its more moderate rivals. But that was also one of the goals in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon - an action many believe only served to strengthen Hezbollah.

Some observers who are more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause think the conflict could clarify the depth of Hamas’s support and lead Obama or his allies to bring them to the negotiating table. But the early consequence of the attack has been the collapse of peace negotiations between Israel and both the Palestinian Authority and Syria, and analysts on both sides say the likeliest consequence is an increasingly bitter and intracable conflict.

[daniel hobbs]

i like the article

[daniel hobbs]

very interesting

[allmymarbles]

Very sneaky on the part of Bush and Israel to attack at this time. It was also incredibly stupid. If they want increased hatred on the part of the Arabs and the threat of destabilization in the Middle East - they have it. If one sees Israel as the Ulster Plantation and the Arabs as the Irish, the attitude of the Arabs can be more easily understood. The problem goes well beyond the Palestinians. Anti-Arab policy long predates the creation of Israel.

[ioweign]

and this time you cannot blame bush.....what happened to the impeachment process??

Posted by LordSunTzu at 10:06 PM : Dec 29, 2008

The Gaza Bombshell
After failing to anticipate Hamas''s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

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Oh yes - there are Bush and Rice fingerprints and DNA present...

[deathofusa]

Yeah. It''s gonna be interesting to see how fast Clinton and Obama will throw Israel under the bus.

[irmcvet971]

and this time you cannot blame bush.....what happened to the impeachment process??

Posted by LordSunTzu at 10:06 PM : Dec 29, 2008


You don''t think Bush and you Fascist suffered MUCH more by forcing the People of this nation to endure him to the bitter end? Right now he nor the "Party" couldn''t be elected Dog Catcher!

[irmcvet971]

It sure is a MUCH better feeling to know in a few short weeks that Bush/Rice will be replaced by Obama/Clinton. To have people who ACTUALLY can THINK outside the box and can actually believe in something other than blowing people up to fix things is a MASSIVE shift for the nation.

[juwboy]

Mcliar said:

"When Sharon invaded Palestinian territory without being provoked the Palestinians were justified in launching the infitada."

Justified, my @ss!!!

The infitada began when Ariel Sharon had the unspeakable gall to commit the unpardonable crime of WALKING PAST A MOSQUE on the Temple Mount.

Christians don`t throw rocks at me when I walk past their churches every day.

It`s about time the whole world treated Palestinians for what they are -- feral, primitive, animalistic, medieval thugs.

[collis12]

Unfortunately, Obama will spend quite a bit of time in his first term cleaning up the messes made by the outgoing genius that is leaving. Thank God the Barack is capapble, otherwise we would be up the creek without a paddle. Bush is the worst President this country has ever had and hopefully will ever have. We should pass a law that denies him the right to have his potrait hung anywhere in the view of other human beings.

[whitemale08]

Obama can only tell the Israelis to stop and go make a deal that was already happening with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians before this crisis.

If that little blonde lady who is Israel''s foreign minister doesn''t want to do that then let her figure it out for herself or go back to Europe where she''s from and tell the British to stop selling weapons to both Israel and Hamas.

[lordsuntzu]

THIS IS ALL A SCAM TO HAVE IRAN CONTROLLED HEZBOLLAH COME TO THE RESCUE OF PALESTINE AND THEN ISREAL WILL HAVE ENOUGH SUPPORT FROM THE US TO HIT IRAN. WATCH IT, SOME OTHER ATTACKS WILL HAPPEN RIGHT ABOUT JAN26 AND FEB27

Posted by impeach___w at 05:52 PM : Dec 29, 2008
+ report abuse

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and this time you cannot blame bush.....what happened to the impeachment process??

[tincup356]

We don''t need to address anything,,,,the last thing we need to do is get involved any deeper anywhere in the world. The root of all our problems stems directly from sticking our noses where they don''t belong. Those same people in the Middle East have been killing each other for centuries and will forever...get out of it and leave it to them....we have enough problems at home created by 40 plus years of Corporate induced legislation s and problems of corruption,,,,,Not to mention all the AMERICAN middle class citizens, who are the backbone of America''s makeup,....are being systematically eliminated by the people who are supposed to be representing them.

[wardoglrs]

Looks like America got themselves a new world order kind of guy but unbeknown to the people they paid for there own destruction by there own government just like the past they all forget so often.

Now America is the sacrificial lamb for the god of war
and when it comes it will be as the surreal of insane madness & Confusion

[iggy9718]

mccliar, why is palestine justified in attacking civilians? they should attack the army

[xcuja]

Israel nic pic''s Humas, and when he reacts, Israel uses it as an excuse to attack, and kill as many as possible, with the weapons Bush has sent. I believe this was being planned as we were so busy watching the door of the governor of Illinois, that we failed to see what the Bush regime, and Israel were plotting.

[xcuja]

I think most know by now, this war was started deliberately, by the backing of the Bush regime, in hopes that Iran will step in, and Bush will get his world war 3. Obama is friends with Rice, who, contary to what she says, back the Neo Con Israelis all the way, and Obama will follow. Israelis, as the Bush regime are the new Nazis, murdering all Arabs they can. I regret voting for Obama.

[impeach___w]

THIS IS ALL A SCAM TO HAVE IRAN CONTROLLED HEZBOLLAH COME TO THE RESCUE OF PALESTINE AND THEN ISREAL WILL HAVE ENOUGH SUPPORT FROM THE US TO HIT IRAN. WATCH IT, SOME OTHER ATTACKS WILL HAPPEN RIGHT ABOUT JAN26 AND FEB27

[noloyalisti]

Palestinians also has the right to defend itself. Unfortunately they don''t have a racist right wing religious extremist superpower like the US on their side. Yet.

conservatives are UnAmerican

Posted by pythoncharly
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Isn''t it wierd that those who most fervently wrap thimselves in the flag turn out, in the end, to be the most unAmerican of all. When the truth finally comes out, that is.

At least we will now have a real Secretary of State when things like this happen.

Name one thing... just one thing that Rice has accomplished.

Posted by nowaymcgoo
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The "free and fair" election in Palestine that got Hamas elected comes to mind.