Juan Cole: Israelis Support Obama over Bibi

http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/israelis-support-obama-over-bibi.html

More evidence that Israel derangement syndrome is a malady among the American political class and a narrow sliver of the AIPAC elite, but that most Israelis and most American Jews are far more pragmatic and humane.

57 % of Israelis support Barack Obama’s speech on Middle East peace, and are critical of that of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. (Netanyahu remains popular, just not his hard line stance against peace).

For a canny explanation of the real background of Netanyahu’s attack on Obama, see also Ira Chernus in Tomdispatch. Ira’s Yiddish phrase,”Tuches aufn tish,” is worth the price of admission.

See also The Jewish Voice for Peace’s refutation of Netanyahu.

Thanks for link to Ira Chernus piece:

"Let’s be honest. The Israeli story doesn’t merely distort the truth, it turns the truth ass-backwards. Eerily enough, its basic claims about the Palestinians more accurately describe the Israelis themselves.

. . . .

Obama fed into that myth in his recent “Arab Spring” speech when he called, in effect, for an even swap: the Palestinians would get a state and the Israelis would get security, as if the massively stronger Israelis are the main ones suffering from insecurity. "


http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175397/tomgram%3A_ira_chernus%2C_ass-backwards_in_the_middle_east/

Has no basis in reality, but Americans actually believe this sh*t. Depressing.

There are fewer than six million Israeli Jews, surrounded by over a billion Muslims who they've been doing everything in their power for decades to piss off. Israel also lacks oil and most other natural resources, is in an uncertain position with regard to supplies of fresh water, and is dependent on its high-tech exports to maintain a favorable trade balance. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Israel)

They might prevail easily in another war with their Arab neighbors, but they are terribly vulnerable to threats of boycott and other financial weapons. The security they really need is the security based on international goodwill -- which is what Obama is attempting to offer them and which they are doing their best to reject.