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)  Then there’s the collateral damage for Obama of February elections in Israel almost certainly producing a new prime minister who is significantly to the right of the new American administration.

"This is a crisis without any real benefit, and a tremendous headache for the next administration," said a former State Department Middle East official, Aaron David Miller, of some of the likeliest outcomes.

"If it ends with Hamas getting re-involved in suicide terror and Israelis in Gaza for the next few weeks, it will be extremely difficult for the next administration," said Miller, the author of a recent work on diplomacy in the Middle East, "The Much Too Promised Land."

"Obama's going to inherit a crisis without the capacity to do much about it," Miller said.

Obama has huddled with advisors on the conflict, and spoke on the phone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Saturday about the air strikes in Gaza as well as concerns about the movement of Pakistani troops away from Afghanistan and toward the Indian border. The conversation lasted about eight minutes, according to a transition aide who also said the president-elect will continue to closely monitor these events from his vacation home in Kailua, Hawaii.

"President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time,” said Obama spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.

American leaders on both sides of the aisle generally backed Israel’s attack.

The White House put the onus for the Israeli strike squarely on Hamas, with spokesman Gordon Johndroe calling the rocket attacks "completely unacceptable,” and calling the group's leadership "nothing but thugs."

"Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas,” he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a close Obama ally, offered a similar assessment. "Peace between Israelis and Palestinians cannot result from daily barrages of rocket and mortar fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza,” she said. “Hamas and its supporters must understand that Gaza cannot and will not be allowed to be a sanctuary for attacks on Israel.”

Within Obama’s transition, Democrats say there is a subtle division between foreign policy advisers. One camp holds out hope for a directly negotiated peace, culminating with a signing ceremony on the South Lawn - while another group has argued for a more oblique approach aimed at a negotiated peace between Israel and Syria, thereby weakening Syria’s ties with Iran. The latter group of advisers - which include former Clinton aides Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk - see weakening the role of Iran, which is closely tied to Hezbollah, as central to establishing an Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza may strengthen their case, according to analysts on both sides of the divide. But the success of the attack may have the reverse consequence in Israeli politics, strengthening foreign minister and Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni, who is seen as being somewhat more open to negotiations with Palestinian leaders than her main rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[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.

######

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.