The Obama Administration should be more preoccupied with the good relations between Israel and the USA than with trying to divide the Israelis and the Jewish people between the left and the right. We should not interfere with Israeli politics. Israel is a democracy and not a dictatorship.  Israel is an ally and not an enemy. During the last few weeks, Vice President Biden, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then our President himself, according to the media, have been snubbing Premier Minister Netanyahu and demanding that he stop building in Jerusalem.  We should not naively believe that the Arabs will make peace with Israel, if Israel would stop building  in Jerusalem.  Gaza is a good example for the futility of such “gestures”.

I can only conclude that the entire so called crisis, as many say, was planned to show the Arabs and the world that our President Mr. Obama is the one who dictates the terms to Israel or maybe it was a diversion for other political reasons or to deflect the attention of the Israelis and the public from Obama’s policy to seek a dialog with the Iranian Republican Guard.  Knowing the Iranian people, no one knows what they really think and no one can guess their intentions. In my opinion, the Iranians will never give up anything easily.
 
I am appalled to read that Israel is allegedly causing harm to our troops in the Middle East, as described in negative terms in much of the media.  We should not forget that an allied country is a sovereign state.  I am convinced that the Israelis are the ones who helped America in various ways without divulging anything to anyone. They are the ones who provided substantial support to our defense system, with their intelligence and with their research. I believe that even General Petraeus cannot deny this fact.
 
Knowing the Israelis well, I am confident that Israel’s security does not depend on any foreign power. It depends on the courage and the skills of their people and the ingenuity of their good researchers. I don’t believe that it is our duty to decide issues of national importance for Israel. It is for them alone to decide. 

Mr. President, to be Jewish it is not a question of politics; it is a question of thousands of years of Faith. If we compare the holy Qur’an with the Bible, the Qur’an does not mention Jerusalem even one time, while the Bible, and be it the Old or the New Testament, clearly mentions Jerusalem, the city of King David, hundreds of times.  If you want to create social justice, why not start by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people, where every religion is welcome and every human being is well received and protected. 

When Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan, no Jew had access to the Western Wall for prayer. You know that the Jews were exiled for two millennia from their country and its holy capital Jerusalem.  The Europeans have nothing to say about Israel’s politics as they were not an example and they should stop twisting Israel’s arm. One should also not forget that all Arab countries have repeatedly declared war on Israel and have lost.

It is time that the American administration ask their Arab friends to help their brothers, whom they have for too long ignored and kept as refugees, to settle in their large territories, instead of instigating them against Israel, the same way that the Jews around the world helped millions of Jewish refugees from Europe, Africa and the Middle East peacefully settle in various countries.  Have we forgotten those millions of Jewish refugees?

If we should work with Israel, it should be to strengthen what is essential to our two countries and the region, and not to dictate the terms how Israel should live, or who they should choose as their leader.  The Obama Administration should be more concerned about Iran building a nuclear bomb, than where the Jews are building their houses in their historic city. The Middle East prospered with the Jewish presence and will continue in this direction. Please read the article by David Brooks published in the New York Times: “The Tel Aviv Cluster “which describes well the positive talents of the Jewish people.  You will understand what I mean.  To the Jews, I can only repeat what my dad, who fought in WWI and WWII used to tell me: “Fear has never elevated a human being, but courage, tenacity and perseverance can lead to freedom.”  Any peace by force can only leave bitterness.

Copyright 2010 Emile Tubiana