6th Op-Ed

Why Won’t Obama talk to Israel?
By: Aluf Benn

In this article, Aluf Benn (an editor for an Israeli newspaper) asks the question of why Obama has not talked to Israel directly as he has to other nations. Because of this, the Israeli view of Obama is of his demands (of various settlements involving the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine). This view of Obama hurts his image and of the country. In a survey of Israelis, 50% believed that the Obama administration is pro-Palestine. Only 6% believed they were pro-Israel. Because of this, the nation as a whole is not willing to give up anything to Palestine to achieve peace. Thus, the Israeli Prime Minister doesn’t feel any pressure to end the situation from his own people. Benn goes on to say that one explanation for this behavior is as follows: During the Clinton and Bush years, Israel was a close ally of the US and the US and Israel worked together to build a peace plan for the Middle East. But, then when Israel went into controversial military operations, the US stood back. This made Israel happy and content, but the European and Middle Eastern allies mad. To repair these damaged relationships, Obama could try to look like the opposite of his predecessor. Thus, he is now ignoring Israel. Also, Benn shares that the view of most Israelis is that Obama is a softie and is trying to make friends with everyone (even after being embarrassed by Iran and North Korea). This policy of not talking has led the Israelis to harden their minds and stay closers to their leader’s ways than of these new talks peace.
Aluf Benn writes this article as if a FYI to Obama of what his not-talking is doing to the relations in Israel. The ignoring of Israel (either intended or not) does not help Obama’s plan for peace between Israel and Palestine. Mr. Benn first presents the problem that he sees. Then he backs it up with solid evidence. After he presents his evidence, he then puts himself in the Americans shoes, to give an explanation of how Obama came to the conclusion that he needs to ignore Israel. Once he set the stage for Obama’s recent actions, he then gives five distinct examples of how Obama has misinterpreted Israeli behavior. For his conclusion… he doesn’t really have one. At the end he simply hangs all that he has to say out, but also declares that maybe he is wrong and Obama is right. It seems a strange way to end an article but as a newspaper editor, I think he knows more than me. Either way, it still makes an interesting article and I believe the point will be well received. As for Obama, I think as a PR specialist, I think he will take this criticism well and manage the situation to the best of his abilities.