Sarah Palin Beats Robert Kagan to the Talking Point

Robert Kagan writes today: This administration pays lip-service to “multilateralism,” but it is a multilateralism of accommodating autocratic rivals, not of solidifying relations with longtime democratic allies. Sarah Palin said it first, though it took her fewer words to do it, while primarily stressing the “reset button on our relations with Israel,” using “world’s worst regimes” to attack Obama’s diplomacy. Sarah’s alliterations better than Bob’s. Do conservatives know it’s your enemies that require the most diplomacy? There’s no evidence of it.

From Biden to Netanyahu to Clinton and Obama, what we currently have going on with Israeli-US relations is a dangerous game of “Who is more pro Israel?” Never mind that the root of the issue should be what policy will get us to the negotiating table to move Palestinians closer to getting a state, which would move Israel closer to a safer reality.

With the AIPAC conference coming up, no one is surprised about all this hot air. It’s the usual suspects plus one, with Sarah Palin the latest political character in this diplomatic one-upsmanship. In them mix add Michael Oren, who is denouncing the fact that he was “flagrantly misquoted.” While a “senior administration official” is saying V.P. Biden never told Netanyahu squat about Israel endangering our troops. Yep, it’s the same old, same old rhetorical death match.

Sarah Palin, while channeling Clinton’s message on “push the reset button,” was careful not to criticize Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, because she knows behind Hillary stands a lot of women, aiming her rhetoric at Pres. Obama instead. You know, just in case she gets a chance to take him on in 2012. From Ben Smith:

The Obama Administration reaches out to some of the world’s worst regimes in the name of their engagement policy. America and our allies watch as sanctions are eased on Cuba. Letters are written to Iran’s mullahs only to see that regime start killing protestors in the streets of Tehran. Envoys are sent to North Korea as they continue to defy the world’s demand to give up their nuclear weapons. The Burmese military junta’s representative is allowed to travel to our nation’s capital. The President’s envoy for Sudan talks about giving that genocidal regime “gold stars,” while the President shakes hands with Venezuela’s tyrannical leader. In the midst of all this embracing of enemies, where does the Obama Administration choose to escalate a minor incident into a major diplomatic confrontation? With Iran, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea or Burma? No. With our treasured ally, Israel.

Last October, Secretary of State Clinton recognized Israel’s desire for peace in the Middle East and praised Israel’s “unprecedented” concessions for agreeing to halt settlement construction in the West Bank, a concession that did NOT include halting construction of apartments for Jews in Jerusalem. Even last week after planned construction was announced, Vice President Biden still expressed “appreciation” for the “significant” steps taken by the Israeli government to address this minor issue. Now, however, we see the Obama Administration has decided to escalate, make unilateral demands of Israel, and threaten the very foundation of the US-Israel relationship. This is quickly leading to the worst crisis in US-Israel relations in decades, and yet this did not have to happen. More importantly, it needs to stop before it spirals out of control. Vice President Biden should rein in the overheated Obama Administration rhetoric and chill the political spin masters’ fire as they visit the Sunday media shows to criticize Israel.

Once again, the Obama Administration is missing the boat on a very, very important issue. They need to go back to the basics and acknowledge Palestinian leaders have not progressed any peace process since President Obama was elected. As Israel makes concessions (and is still criticized by the Obama Administration), Arab leaders are just sitting back waiting for the White House to further pressure Israel. The Obama Administration needs to open its eyes and recognize that it is only Iran and her terrorist allies that benefit from this manufactured Israeli controversy. Vice President Biden was actually right when he said last week, before the construction announcement, that “one necessary precondition for progress is that the rest of the world knows…there is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to security.” Right now, thanks to the Obama Administration, there is a chasm. It’s time for President Obama to push the reset button on our relations with our ally Israel.

As to substance of what Sarah is saying, it’s timed perfectly for AIPAC, with Palin one of their crowd, which is as expected. It is a foreign policy and national security statement made through an aide, which was written for her, giving the impression of prowess on the issue she has not illustrated herself. We shall see if she gets face time on Fox News to comment on the issue during AIPAC’s conference coming up.

Meanwhile, the JTA has a report quoting Israel’s ambassador to Washington Michael Oren, who is flatly denying the quotes attributed to him. Emphasis added below.

“I was flagrantly misquoted about remarks I made in a confidential briefing this past Saturday,” Oren said in a statement. “Recent events do not — I repeat — do not represent the lowest point in the relations between Israel and the United States. Though we differ on certain issues, our discussions are being conducted in an atmosphere of cooperation as befitting long-standing relations between allies. I am confident that we will overcome these differences shortly.”

Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic also got a denial through a “senior administration official who accompanied Biden on his trip to Israel,” that Biden ever told Netanyahu that his actions and those of Israel’s were endangering American troops in the Middle East. Here’s the statement via Goldberg, again, emphasis is added:

“The assertion I read in the newspaper suggested that the Vice President said something to the effect that Israeli actions are endangering American soldiers. He never said that, and there’s no basis to assert that he did. It’s nothing he said and I don’t know how it was inferred.

What he did say in a meeting with the prime minister and his senior advisers and his own team was that the U.S. is doing a number of things in our national security interest, and in Israel’s national security interest, and they include a strong effort to build a coalition against Iran’s nuclear program; deploying 200,000 troops in conflict areas in the region; standing against efforts to delegitimize Israel in various international bodies, sometimes virtually alone; acting decisively against terrorists in very significant ways; and building probably the strongest defense cooperation relationship with Israel that we’ve seen, including on missile defense. And he said that the extent to which Israel aggressively pursues peace makes these efforts easier.”

It may be the 21st century, with Pres. Obama holding much promise when he came into office, but we’re not getting beyond what Pres. Bill Clinton attained back during his second term. Though there are hints, including today on “Morning Joe,” that Pres. Obama may lay down his own plan, taking up where Clinton left off.