This column went to press in advance of the Democratic National Convention. Please see the Rosner’s Domain blog at jewishjournal.com for updates. I also will be writing about the Democrats in next week’s newspaper.
1. President Obama came under attack yesterday for his many sins –as interpreted by GOP candidates – among them the mistreatment of Israel. Senator John McCain, the GOP 2008 candidate, said that the US “can’t afford to cause our friends and allies, from Latin America to Europe to Asia to the Middle East and especially in Israel, a nation under existential threat, to doubt America’s leadership”. Have no doubt: When it comes to the “existential threat” Jerusalem indeed doubts America’s leadership (or, as David Horovitz put it: “Everything you have heard about the personal hostility between Obama and Netanyahu is true, and then some, according to the insiders from both the pro- and anti-Iran strike camps. The prime minister thinks the president is unreliable and misguided on matters Israeli, Middle Eastern and Islamist”). Whether the US can’t afford such doubt is another matter. Condoleezza Rice, in her remarks, also said that ““Our friends and allies must be able to trust us. From Israel to Poland to the Philippines to Colombia and across the world – they must know that we are reliable and consistent and determined”. But she didn’t quite explain why – what might happen if these countries cease to have trust in the US? I must agree with Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin: “She said that under a Romney administration, the United States will remain the most powerful country on Earth but didn’t get into the details of how the former Massachusetts governor would tackle critical challenges such as the crisis in Syria, Iran’s nuclear program, or the Middle East conflict”.
Read more at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain
