President Obama Should Be Held Accountable For Failing To Advance Peace Process Between Israel And Palestinians

By Rabbi Sam Intrator

As we are coming to the final days of the presidential campaign, it is shocking that an issue that may be the greatest foreign policy challenge facing the next president of United States soon after he takes the oath of office next year has neither been mentioned in the debates, nor has the media paid any attention to it.

The Middle East peace process, especially in light of the violence that has followed the “Arab Spring,” should have been a subject of debate and discussion by both candidates. Gov. Romney has critiqued Pres. Obama’s failed approach to the Middle East peace process and has suggested that he would follow a different course. President Obama should have been held far more accountable for his grave failures in regard to the peace process.

While candidate Obama in 2008 criticized President Bush for his failures to make any progress in peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, President Obama in 2012 has established a record on this issue that has caused far more damage to the peace process than his predecessors’ actions. The president’s policies of “putting daylight” between United States and Israel has made Israel feel far more insecure and has emboldened the Palestinian Authority and made them far more intransigent. Thus Pres. Obama’s policies have not only failed to advance the peace process, but have actually reduced chances of peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

For a true peace process to take hold in the Middle East, the approach followed by President Obama and that of many in the peace movement, which is primarily blaming Israel for lack of progress in the peace process due to its  settlement construction is a grossly one-sided and unfair approach that is doomed to failure. Without confronting the Palestinians for their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as well as their harsh incitement against Jews and Israelis in their government controlled TV and textbook, no true and real lasting peace can come to the region. Without a candid and public discussion of all the issues, peace will continue to remain out of reach to both Israelis and Palestinians.

Real peace Middle East (www.rpme.org), a new organization hailing from South Florida seeks to broaden the peace discussion and to move beyond superficial reflex reactions that automatically primarily blame Israel for lack of progress on the peace front. In the spirit of expanding that discussion, RPME has with the assistance of prominent Hollywood producers released a trilogy of humorous and satirical Webisodes that show the absurdity of the failed peace process followed in these last years. The Webisodes can be found on the Real Peace Middle East website RPME.ORG

Rabbi Sam Intrator is president of Real Peace Middle East