Rasmussen has a poll out measuring public opinion on Obama’s stand in opposition to Israeli settlements.
According to the poll “49% of American voters believe Israel should be required to stop building settlements.” And their “national telephone survey finds that just 22% of voters disagree and believe Israel should not be required to stop building those settlements. Another 29% are not sure.”
This is an important poll because it indicates that the American public is finally waking up to the fact that Israeli settlements are bad for Israel and bad for the U.S., a sentiment expressed by none other than Centcom Commander General Petraeus recently.
We may have reached a watershed in the politics of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the role of the U.S.
The Israeli announcement that they were permitting the building of 1600 apartments in East Jerusalem was a slap in the face of Vice President Biden, who was visiting Israel at the time of the announcent. The incident has set of a firestorm of criticism directed at Israel for their high-handed treatment of Biden.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton scorched Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a nearly 45-minute call. Senior adviser David Axelrod described the episode as an “affront” and an “insult” on the Sunday talk shows.
Now that the public and the military are opposed to the settlements, Obama has the leverage to resist Israeli apartheid. If he chooses not to use this leverage, he will demonstrate to the Arab world that he can be pushed around by Netanyahu, and Obama’s fine words in Egypt last year will be exposed as hollow rhetoric—with dire consequences for the “war on terror”, U.S. security, and the Palestinian people.
Israel is utterly dependent on the U.S economically, militarily, and diplomatically. Now is the time to suggest to Israel that our support is contingent on making progress on Middle East peace.
