Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 3, 2009 Page: 9 of 36
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TEXAS JEWISH POST #SINCE 1947
FEDERATION NEWS
December3,2009 I 9
"Iran is the most significant
threat, not only to Israel and
the region, but to the world.
This is an extremist, expan-
sionist regime that wants to
spread the Islamic revolution
and alter the world order."
Sallai Meridor,
former Israeli ambassador
security are inoperative otherwise,"
Meridor said — but he recalled
Obama's statement that if the threat
had not been reduced by the end of
2009, Iran would face "painful pres-
sure."
"It's now the end of the year,"
Meridor said, adding that he hopes
the administration will fulfill its
promise.
He believes Iran's strategy is "to
get closest to a bomb without cross-
ing too many red lines." He also said
Iran hopes to get a shield for its sys-
tems, perhaps from the Russian air
defense, to prevent intervention at its
facilities.
But, Meridor added, Iran may
be more vulnerable than is thought,
with its oil-export/gasoline-import-
based economy down and political
unrest fomented by the disputed re-
election of President Mahmoud Ah-
madinejad in lune.
He said some of the "painful sanc-
tions" that could be imposed include
"keeping them with a limited ability
to sell oil — while patronizing other,
friendlier, oil-producing nations —
and keeping them short of gasoline,
so that their gas stations would have
long lines." Though Iran produces
oil, it does not have the refinery capa-
bility to turn it into gasoline, forcing
the nation to import its fuel.
But could such an effort backfire
with other Middle Eastern nations
refusing to sell oil to the West and
bring back memories of the OPEC
boycotts of the 1970s and 1980s?
Maybe, but not likely, Meridor
said.
"The Arabs are more concerned
with the nuclear problem of Iran, so
there is a chance we could get some
cooperation."
On the home front, Meridor
said the February election that saw
right-wing parties take control of the
Knesset and paved the way for Likud
leader Netanyahu to form a govern-
ment might have been an expression
of frustration over the peace talks.
"The Israelis saw in 2007, 2008
how the previous government [01-
mert's Kadima Party] reached out
to the Palestinians and the Syrians,
only to find out they were not inter-
ested," he said. "We were met with
rocket terror from Gaza, and we did
not stay in Gaza. We did not demand
anything."
Likud and Netanyahu, mean-
while, sounded a hard line and in-
sisted settlement building would
continue. Still, Likud and Kadima
won almost the same number of
Knesset seats. It was smaller parties
and the late addition of the Labour
Party to the coalition that solidified
the Netanyahu government.
But the true result is the equiva-
lent of what would happen in the
United States if it were to elect a Re-
publican president who supported
health care reform and withdrawing
troops from Afghanistan.
"In Israel, the politics shifted to
the right, but the policy shifted to the
left," Meridor said. "A two-state solu-
tion is backed, should we have a part-
ner that is interested in compromise
for security and peace.
"When there's nobody to talk to,
we need to stick to our guns."
SNUB
continued from p. 5
cost of kosher food and a desire to allow the list to
grow over time.
Over the past year, the Obama administration
has given the lewish community a number of rea-
sons to fear that it takes its votes for granted. For
instance, there is the administration's pressure
on the Israeli government over settlements. And
many Jews are concerned about the selection of
Mary Robinson — a leader of the Durban con-
ference boycotted by both Israel and the United
States for its anti-Israel bias — to win a Medal
of Freedom. In addition, the administration at-
tempted — but eventually backed away from —
putting Israel critic Charles Freeman at the head
of the National Intelligence Council.
The administration's move, as Politico noted,
"comes on the heels of Obama's cancellation of an
appearance before the General Assembly of North
American Jewish Federations." (This was one in-
stance where the president deserves the benefit of
the doubt, having made the understandable decision
to attend a memorial service for the victims at Fort
Hood instead. Nonetheless, it has fueled the concerns
of some who see it as part of a string of slights.)
For these reasons, while the size of the party
may not be a big deal in the grand scheme of
things, even some of Obama's supporters may see
it in the context of this longer train of politically
tone-deaf decisions.
Regardless of the party's size, Obama should be
warned that Jewish visitors to the White House
often live up to the old maxim that "Gentiles leave
without saying goodbye, while Jews say goodbye
and never leave."
I have seen this phenomenon myself. After one
particularly late night social event at the White
House, then-Chief of Staff Josh Bolten joked to
Bush's senior staff that the White House military
aides — who staff official events in full ceremoni-
al garb — almost had to unsheathe their swords in
order to get Chanukah celebrants to exit the White
House residence by the party's 8 p.m. close.
A smaller group may make this particular
problem easier to handle, but neither it, nor a nag-
ging sense that there maybe a studied callousness
at work here, will be going away.
TeviTroy is a visiting senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He held
multiple senior jobs in the Bush White House, and served as the White
House Jewish liaison from 2003 to 2004.
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Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 3, 2009, newspaper, December 3, 2009; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188269/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .