Opinion  Nahum Barnea
Joke at Obama’s expense
Nahum Barnea
Published: 22.09.09, 00:38
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27 Talkbacks for this article
1. Ludicrous- you think the end of US aid = the end of Israel?
j ,   Israel   (09.22.09)
Israel pays for those US dollars with Jewish blood. Much better for each to keep their own.
2. obama is a catastrophe
david ,   new york   (09.22.09)
3. He could be the Joker. They have given him the makeup before
Steven Wilson ,   Anchorage, Alaska   (09.22.09)
4. The writer doesn't know what he is talking about
Al   (09.22.09)
He talks in riddles about nothing..YNET its time to put him out to pasture..His brain has been fryed. I get a kick out of Israeli writers trying to write for an English readership using Israeli isms..Its hilarious.
5. Israeli attitudes toward Obama troubling
avramele   (09.22.09)
When george bush was president the Israelis of all political shades treated him with deference, nay affection. this despite the fact that he was wasted 8 years of pursuing progress on peace not to mention a joke to much of the American people who surrounded himself with political scoundrels and worse. Now we have President who not only received one of the largest percentage of Jewish vote ever (78%), can pronounce rosh hashanah greetings correctly without breaking his teeth, and surrounds himself with the best and the brightest minds of the country many of whom have deep mainstream ties to their own Jewishness and Israel...yet the patronizing disdain of Israelis across the spectrum is palbable. No I am not saying that he should be given a blank check by the Israeli community --but a bit of respect and slack? Or is it that Rahm and Dennis and Hillary have so got Bibi's number that Bibi's narishkeit can't work with this President and administration?
6. Uh Huh.
Gideon Reader   (09.22.09)
yeah. Yep. He cool. He da' MAN! He is also an incompetent and socialist, maybe Marxist pretended, whose stated goal is to "transform" the United States of America, even though the overwhelming number of citizens do NOT want it so moved. A Mr.Bean. A bumbler and dabbler is our ZerO.
7. The End Result?
Brod ,   USA   (09.22.09)
This article seems so desperate for Obama to become a magician that can produce fantasy peace. The end result, however, seems predictable. There will be no fantasy peace. Simplistic solutions to complex problems will result only in failures. Israel should be forthright to the world, Israel must state that Judea and Samaria are Israel's liberated historic homeland. And the Islamist-Jihadists have NO right usurping its historic homeland. Why are the Arab Islamist-Jihadists so belligerent as if they own the world? The great mistake that Obama made is trying to throw Israel out of the equation. He cowed to Islam as expressed in his Egypt speech. In a meeting in Rome, he bowed to the Saudi Islamist-Jihadist Wahhabhist Chieftain whose thugs attacked America and murdered 3000 Americans in cold blood on 9/11, and whose country is the Chief Sponsor of Islamist-Jihadist Terrorism around the world. Until Obama knows this, he will be like a blind man finding his way back to civilization in the Arabian Desert. He will continue to be blind because of his inherent bias against Israel. Twenty years of imbibing AntiSemitic homilies at Jeremiah Wright's church, and having a virulent AntiSemite Islamist-Jihadist Crusader-Rashid Khalidi as a close friend, will continue to make him wallow in the cesspool of AntiSemitism. The End Result is that Israel will continue to choose the pathway of existence and not be meandered into the pathway of destruction that Obama is trying to lead them into. This is all because "There is no surah called 'Peace.' Jihad and killing are the head of Islam. If you take them out, you cut off the head of Islam." (p.24, "Islam and Terrorism" [2002] by Mark A. Gabriel, PhD)
8. Total lack of understanding
Toby Stupp ,   Israel   (09.22.09)
Mr Barnea is throwing (as usual) the blame on Mr. Neyanyahu. Had he conceeded to a building freeze, all would be all right. Wake up and realize that Israel is not all that powerful and cannot conceed on a whim that will in the final result, do nothing. He would of capulated and got nothing.
9. #5, exactly what has he done to earn respect?
Danny   (09.22.09)
10. Dear Mr. Barnea
Esther ,   Tel Aviv/Jaffa   (09.22.09)
Dear Mr. Barnea, I commend you on a well thought out piece. Your conclusion, that President Obama "is supposed to bring results", says it all. Sadly, I must add to your analysis. As a person living in America for many years and as one who's spent many years working with American blacks, I can only tell you that the racial issue is alive and well. The notion of racial equality is an illusion, the anti-white backlash in America exists in full strength. The easiest target of this racial hatred are the Jews and, of course, Israel.
11. The Middle East the "center of anti-Americanism and hatred."
Ron B. ,   Lod   (09.22.09)
PMW staff found that the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 was a frequent theme of anti-American cartoons in PA newspapers. Each year, the papers print cartoons, often on or shortly before September 11, depicting the Muslim world, particularly Iraq and “Palestine,” as the true victims of the attacks. America is depicted as the aggressor. The Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) watchdog group has released a report warning that hatred of the United States is a pillar of the Palestinian Authority’s ideology. More at : http://xrl.us/bju8k
12. Title correction: Joke at Obama’s request
Eric ,   Tel Aviv   (09.22.09)
Abbas can not do any real talking without loosing what little face he has with his people because Israel will not concede to a new requirement to stop building in the West Bank. Bibi can not do any real talking as it will kill his government because he can not concede to the new requirement to stop building in the West Bank. So Obama wants a photo op to show the world that he has accomplished nothing with Israel, nothing with the Palestinians, and nothing with his Arab "friends" / "peace partners" - Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This is a waste of film.
13. meeting a 'joke'
moron ,   galut   (09.22.09)
israel will be lucky if nothing happens at this meeting--barak hussein obama is not worse than other modern democrat leaders like carter and that's bad enough!
14. The world is not enough
not your homey   (09.22.09)
Israel is to blame for the demographic shift. Stop this zionistic madness now or the West will become muslim. Israel caused more problems than the ponzi-scheme philantrophists could solve. Its no longer an Israeli-only problem. If the west go muslim it concerns us all. Stop living in history you little rabbinic indoctrinated victims.
15. he also discoverd that obama is beter suit for
ghostq   (09.22.09)
"Saturday night Live"
16. We have no prez. just a Campaigner in Chief! And that's NO
joke. The joke is on ,   those who voted4him.   (09.22.09)
17. Barnea was right
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (09.22.09)
about only one thing. "The Americans discovered that they want an Israeli-Palestinian agreement more than the leaders of both sides desire one" All the Americans want is an agreement, followed by a Nobel Peace Prize. The Israelis want to live, and Netanyahu knows that surrendering Judea and Samaria will guarantee Israel's extermination. The Arabs want to eliminate Israel, because they know that the Green-line borders Obama is offering them aren't big enough.
18. Obama promises much but delivers only disaster.
Chaim ,   Israel   (09.22.09)
Obama is "promising" only in the sense that he makes many ludicrous promises. He delivers only disaster. Remember his promises on limiting unemployment? More than 3,000,000 Americans lost their jobs on Obama's watch. Many as a direct result of his idiotic economic policies. And on and on. American history yields few presidents who did so much damage in so short a period of time.
19. funny mistake
tom ,   toronto, canada   (09.22.09)
the article says: "Both Netanyahu and Obama prefer to make do with what’s available now, rather than taking a risk with decisions that will exact a heavy political price. None of them is a Ben-Gurion, or a Begin, or a Rabin." it would seem that interchanging "obama" for "abbas" makes little difference. too true, too true!
20. Hussein Obama,wil destroy his own country
chaim ,   brooklyn ny   (09.22.09)
before he is able to destroy Israel.
21. b.o. just wants to destroy Israel and
jason white ,   afula,israel   (09.22.09)
weaken the U.S. b.o. surrounded himself with "jewish" self haters. he has that vicious anti Zionist hitlery clinton as sec of state. These are all incompetents who share a hate of live Jews, especially in Israel. Our biggest mistake was not saying e. Jerusalem, all of Judea and Shomron were parts of Israel in 1967. We should have moved out as many of the trespassing arabs as possible to jordan forever. Also crying out every five minutes that we want peace shows weakness. We should have told the world we want peace on our terms only. oslo weakened us and those that voted for it should have been tried for treason.
22. O hai!
Barka Obotma   (09.22.09)
O noes, I failed at teh whitehouse lolz. ppl dun liek me no morez. no wate, teleprommrz iz here :) wate, ... Good evening, as President, I will make the world a wonderful place for all by 9:15PM this Thursday. It will not cost you anything, we will be giving $1,200 to everyone on earth, and you can watch the whole thing live on C-Span. Please continue living in the peace and prosperity I have brought to the world. I've just been handed an update; the money handout to everyone has been increased to negative $428,294. Peace and prosperity has been upgraded to "possible discussions". Things are looking better all the time! Thank you, and good night.
23. If the failure was predictable why did no analyst
avrom ,   bet shemesh   (09.22.09)
predict it
24. What a waste of time!
Mladen Andrijasevic ,   Be'er Sheva, Israel   (09.22.09)
The point has been reached when all these empty Israeli-Palestinian-US meetings are not only ridiculous, they show how ignorant and incompetent the organizers are. To expect anything reasonable from the Palestinians a month after the Fatah conference in Bethlehem where the Palestinians came up with a platform which labeled all Israelis the illegitimate inhabitants of Jerusalem is an exercise in futility. To spend time on this summit nonsense at this critical juncture in Israel’s history vis-à-vis the Iranian nuclear threat is truly absurd.
25. Obama is facing a major problem
Nathan   (09.23.09)
Obama is in a difficult situation. He would really like to act as a mediator in any peace talks, yet he, like everyone else, is faced by Netanyahu, who has made the political calculation that it is better to do nothing in face of a powerless ''adversary'' than engage in any form of peace talks. It's been a long time since the PA have recognized Israel, and the PA leadership have stood firm by that decision. The little, if any, violence that still emanates from the West Bank has nothing to do with the PA. The PA has little control over the West Bank anyways. It`s not like Netanyahu could ask for Abbas to ''make gestures'', or ''concede something'' for peace talks to proceed, because Abbas has nothing to concede in the first place. Ultimatelty, should negociations proceed, the only thing that the PA could ''give up'' is merely asking for territory it does not control (e.g. settlements). Big deal. Even if it does not give up on that (which it will), Israel remains in control. Please tell me what's the pressure on Netanyahu. The status quo is perfect for any Israeli leader. Whether it is moraly right is another question, however... But hey, at the end of the day, even if you are morally wrong, as long as you have the big guns to protect you, you can sleep well.
26. Israeli concessions
David ,   New England   (09.23.09)
If Israel acceded to Abbas' demands, what obstacle to an agreement would he insist upon next?
27. #18 You are absolutely correct. And those who voted for him
are now aghast @ the ,   creature before them   (09.23.09)
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