Make the president pay

I am opposed to a two-state solution. I believe there are rational, pragmatic alternatives to the two-state paradigm.

I am convinced the imposition of two-state means an end to the Zionist enterprise. And if we fail to stop the rush to two-state we will certainly forfeit the central touchstone of our history our culture and our religion – we will lose Jerusalem.

First thing's first. President Obama does not like Israel.

His sympathies are with Israel’s enemies.

Right now President Obama’s strategy to impose a two-state solution on the Jewish state is on the brink of success.

The Obama Administration is pursuing a two-pronged international political game plan. Hammer the Jews - and make sure the world knows you’re doing it. Marginalize and demonize the Jewish state.

The Administration takes every public opportunity to call into question Israel’s borders and its national claim to Jerusalem. They paint Israel – and specifically Prime Minister Netanyahu – as obstacles to peace while simultaneously portraying Fatah as responsible moderates and legitimizing Syria as a regional Arab peacemaker. They claim Israeli intransigence is harming American interests abroad and endangering American soldiers in Afghanistan.

The American president has delivered his political message. He intends to apply unrelenting pressure on Israel.

Imposing a two-state solution is at the heart of the Obama foreign policy. They are mesmerized by the idea of a two-state solution.

Here is the raw political truth. For the President, there is no downside to his “hammer the Jews” assault. There has been no political price to pay. The Administration has suffered no political damage as a consequence of their policy.

To the contrary, the Obama Administration has systematically defanged opposition from mainstream American Jewish leadership. Far from being passive, the Obama Administration continues its assault on Israel by trotting out its panoply of liberal Jewish American Obama supporters. And by boldly twisting the arms of mainstream Jewish leaders in an effort to undermine, if not topple outright, the Netanyahu government in Israel.

President Obama’s hostility toward the Jewish state far from causing him political angst has actually advanced his cause domestically by reinforcing his pro-Islam, anti-Israel bonafides with his core political base on the American left. And the American left controls the Democratic Party.

The current state-of-play is alarming. The situation is dire. The threat to the Zionist enterprise from the imposition of two-state is immediate.

Imposing a two-state solution . . . turning up the heat on Israel will continue to be the centerpiece of Administration policy . . . as long as there is no political cost.

So where does that leave those of us who oppose two-state and would like to cause the Obama administration pain?

Let me be blunt. I find greater security in being feared than in being loved.

Revolt is in the air 

Revolt is in the air among a wide segment of American voters. There is palpable discontent. A seething, boiling, anger directed at the Obama Administration and its policies. Polling tells us nearly half of all American identify with this nascent voter revolt. And President Obama’s job approval numbers are dismal.

We are witnessing a potential tsunami-like wave election in November. An election outcome that will significantly damage the Obama Administration.

How does this profoundly anti-Obama voter sentiment affect those who contemplate the future of the Jewish state with concern?

This ocean of discontented, anti-Administration voters almost universally supports Israel. These are our friends. This is our audience.

Here is where support for Israel resides. Here we find disgust and horror directed at President Obama and his liberal elite supporters. Among our friends President Obama’s foreign policy in general and his “hammer the Jews” strategy specifically are rejected.

We must associate ourselves with this voter revolt. We must join with their leaders. We must bring our issue to the forefront of their agenda. They want to be for us, they want to damage Obama politically, and they will publicly ally themselves with workable alternatives to two-state. They will stand by our side in defense of a unified, Jewish Jerusalem.

It’s worth repeating. There is determined opposition to the President and his policies . . . opposition that is almost universally supportive of Israel. President Obama’s antipathy toward the Jewish state is not shared. “Hammer the Jews” is not a consensus policy in America. A two-state solution is not a foregone conclusion.

There are things we can do. We can fight back. We can cause damage. Real damage. Political damage. The kind they pay attention to.

The President is vulnerable. The American elections are ahead.

Michael Fenenbock is a veteran American political consultant. He and his wife Daphne Weisbart live in New York, but spend a great deal of time in Jerusalem