Would Obama, if elected president, continue the close, pro-Israel relationship that President George W. Bush has pursued? To answer this question, an article by Marc Zell in the Jerusalem Post looks at the foreign policy advisors that Obama has assembled. Led by Zbigniew Brzezinski, to a person they hew the Jimmy Carter line, are pro-Palestinian (i.e., favor the so-called "Palestinians" mythic cause over Israel's position), and oppose the US's close advocacy of Israel.
Obama states, on his website, that he supports a strong US-Israel relationship, supports Israel's right of self-defense, and supports US foreign aid to Israel. Those positions are spoken in strong words--see his fact sheet on Israel. Alas, in day-to-day decision making, Obama will be relying upon his advisors for position statements and policies. Issues raised by actions of Middle East states and terror groups cannot be resolved solely by iteration of glowing generalities and principles; those generalities and principles have to be defined and applied to specific situations. That's where the advisors come in. We cannot--and surely should not--trust this group of advisors to place Israel's interest before the interests of the so-called "Palestinians" or the interests of "realism" rapproachment with the anti-Israeli regimes in the Middle East.
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See also my running updates on my post on Obama's stance toward Israel.
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Update. March 8, 2008. American Thinker (February 19, 2008) has an excellent article profiling Obama's advisors. Agrees with the article cited above of Marc Zell. Happily, Samantha Power has resigned from Obama's team; but wait and see if she resurfaces later.
Update. March 25, 2008. Obama's military advisor is anti-Israel. (Thanks to Atlas Shrugs.) Here is Powerline's view of McPeak.
Update. April 10, 2008. Obama adds new advisors. One, a former US Ambassador to Israel, looks friendly to Israel on the face of it, but check behind the smile and his views often favor the so-called "Palestinians" and are harmful to Israel. At American Thinker.
Update. May 7, 2008. The pro-Arab views of Obama's advisors should worry Jews.
Update. May 13, 2008. Obama advisor: Put Jerusalem on the negotiating table. (Thanks to SpecBlog)
Update. May 31, 2008. Another anti-Israel advisor pick--Rep. David Bonior.
Update. August 30, 2008. Caroline Glick shows that Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden for VP is not all good news for Israel. While Biden has verbally, strongly supported Israel, his actions as a Senator have frequently betrayed that support, especially on issues involving Syria and Iran.
Update. October 5, 2008. Samantha Power was a close advisor of Obama in the primary season, but dismissed for an attack on Hillary Clinton. She is expected, however, to be an advisor in the Obama presidency if he is elected. She is a vicious, Left-wing critic of Israel. In this (undated) interview, she is asked what she would recommend to the president be done if the Israel-Palestinian (so-called "Palestinian") conflict would be escalated toward "genocide" by one party or the other. She interprets the question as assuming that the escalation is by Israel toward the so-called Palestinians; and if the escalation does not result in "actual genocide" of so-called "Palestinians" by Israel, Israel is nonetheless guilty of human rights abuses. She responds to the question by calling for (1) ending US spending of billions of dollars to support Israel's military; (2) instead, "investing" that money in building up a new "Palestinian" state and (3) building up a "protective" force to protect is from Israel, and (4) "external intervention" into, i.e., invasion of, Israel to protect the so-called "Palestinians".
The video of her interview is posted at Atlas Shrugs.
Update. October 13, 2008. Ben Shapiro's excellent 3-part video, "The Jewish Case Against Obama", referenced in Atlas Shrugged.
Update. October 14, 2008. Jesse Jackson, whose family is close to the Obamas, says that, if elected president, Barack Obama will end the US's "Israel first" Middle East policy.
Update. November 2, 2008. American Thinker nails Obama's anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian Middle Eastern studies mentor, Khalidi.
Update. November 14, 2008. Caroline Glick reviews actions and indications of Obama's stance toward Israel since the election. Now that the Jewish vote in Florida has been captured and helped gain a Florida victory, and the presidency won, Obama has resurrected his anti-Israel advisors and is moving rapidly, but quietly, to abandon Israel to Iran and the Palestinians.
Update. November 23, 2008. Obama's views on the Middle East are influenced by Brent Scowcroft, a "realist", who favors deal-making over ideological or moral commitments. Scowcroft sees the Israel-(so-called)Palestinian conflict as central to the problems of the Middle East. Resolution of it would solve a host of problems. Look for Obama to pressure Israel concede a lot to the Palestinians in the hope a deal might be made between them.
Update. February 25, 2009. It is confirmed that Obama is about to appoint Chas Freeman, Jr., to head the National Intelligence Council. The Council is a White House executive staff council that prepares the daily intelligence briefing for the President. Freeman is a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a well-known friend of--mouthpiece for?--for Saudi influence. He is hostile to Israel. He believes that all US problems in the Middle East are due to Israel's "brutal oppression" of the Palestinians (the so-called Palestinian people). See Gabriel Schoenfeld, "Obama's Intelligence Choice," The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, February 25, 2009, A15.
Update. April 28, 2009. Lee Hamilton, for representative from Indiana, has emerged as a key, back-room advisor to Obama on Iran. Hamilton sees Israel as the primary source of our difficult relations with Muslim states in the Middle East and proposes the US government should distance itself from Israel.
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