President Obama used taxpayer dollars to fund State Department opposition to David Cameron’s Conservative Party in last year’s parliamentary elections.
Needless to say, the media spent weeks covering the issue, until ultimately everyone involved was fired, Obama was shamed and safeguards were put in place so this could never happen again.
Just kidding. Obama did do this, just not to Britain. He did it to Israel, against Benjamin Netanyahu. So naturally, the media couldn’t care less. There always seems to be an asterisk for Democrats and the media — forgive the redundancy — when Israel is involved.
Attempting to undermine our closest allies is never okay.*
Countries victimized by terrorism deserve support and have the right to defend themselves.*
Heads of state offer each other congratulations and support after winning elections.*
As the Senate now launches investigations into these actions, a simple Google search reveals nothing more than a few second-tier conservative news sites and Israeli organizations covering this outrage.
This is symptomatic of a larger issue. Significant segments of the American left are still opposed to Israel in a general sense, and Israeli self-preservation in a more specific sense. How else to explain efforts to rebuke Israel in the Democratic National Convention platform, defeated only by a vote of 95 to 73?
Only a country that did not have the right to defend itself would be expected to cede territory to Hamas, a terrorist group that controls Gaza and is devoted to the eradication of Israel.
They speak for themselves. Top Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya raised eyebrows when he said, “This illusion called Israel will be removed. It will be removed at the hands of the Qassam Brigades.”
Qassams are their rocket of choice for indiscriminate fire into civilian population centers.
Or perhaps 43 percent of the DNC platform committee wanted the territory surrendered to Fatah, the other organization in charge of certain Palestinian areas — the one that has been trying to merge with Hamas for years and is likewise recognized as a terrorist group by Canada.
Only with this asterisk could civilian casualties be blamed on Israel, which makes phone calls and drops leaflets to affected civilians, instead of the terrorists hiding behind the civilians in their schools, hospitals and mosques.
If Democrats want to be the party of human rights and progress they claim to be, they should embrace the only functional Western democracy in the Middle East instead of electing leaders that actively try to undermine it.
Obama’s actions would not be tolerated against any other close ally, and they should not be tolerated against Israel.
This second-rate treatment must end. End the asterisk.
zaochamb@indiana.edu
