Veni, Vidi, Vici….Obama Visits Israel

Veni, Vidi, Vici….Obama Visits Israel

By Sherwin Pomerantz

My readers are quite familiar with the fact that I did not think that Barack Obama should have been re-elected to a second term as President of the United States of America.  I felt that way before the election and retain that feeling because I do not think that his socialist tendencies are in the best interests of my birth country.  His record as CEO of the United States, if it were a company instead of a country, would make any Board of Directors anxious to replace him.

Having said that, he made a visit to Israel last week and, to use words similar to those uttered by Julius Caesar in 47 BCE, he came, he saw and he conquered.

During Obama’s visit here he said and did all the right things.  He approached Israel as the friendly country that it is, as the strategic partner that it is in this region and as the only bastion of democracy that this area has known for centuries.  From his cordial embrace of Prime Minister Netanyahu on landing here on Wednesday, to his meeting with President Peres, his outstanding speech to the students who gathered in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon and his touching visit to Yad Vashem and the grave of former Prime Minister Rabin, he did everything flawlessly. 

His words to the students gathered on Thursday at the Jerusalem Convention Center were a skilled combination of good common sense and practical advice.  The only thing some of us here could possibly disagree with was whether or not a two state solution is, in fact, the best way to make peace with the Palestinians or if there is some other construct that would give us a greater sense of security and them a sense of peoplehood.  After all, pretty much everyone here agrees that some accommodation must be made if we are going to continue to thrive in this region and not become totally politically isolated.

In his remarks to the Palestinian leadership he was honest, direct and constructive as he pointed out the need for acceptance of reality on their part as well if we have any hope of moving forward together.

Sadly, there are always negative voices here on both sides of the border and while most of us basked in the warmth that the US president exuded, others found reason to doubt his sincerity, and continue to question his motives.  I feel sorry for those who are not able to extract even a shred of positive karma from the just-concluded visit.

Of course, the trip ended with the long awaited apology to Turkey for the miscalculations associated with the Mavi Marmara incident three years ago and the agreement on Israel’s part to pay compensation for the loss of life that resulted.  This was certainly a coup for Obama and it will be comforting, once again, to have full relations with Turkey restored.

Which all leads me to the conclusion that perhaps Obama is really an expert world leader in spite of my criticism of him as a President.  It just may be that, for him, the United States is simply too small a “theater” in which to operate and that he simply does better on the world stage where he can leverage his three redeeming qualities: (a) intelligence, (b) charisma, and (c) influence.  On the world stage he does not have to deal with the challenges of congressional politics and can paint with a much broader brush, a task he seems to do so well.

I am thankful he visited us (in spite of the havoc it cause here for two days of continual road closures) and hope that the side of the President that we saw here last week will be the one that continues to be dominant during the rest of his term. All of us will be the better for this if it turns out to be true.