Presidential Progression Most of us who love Israel know the basic outline of Harry Truman’s story. In the context of Israel. By early 1948, the Jewish leaders in Palestine, ready to seize momentum from the November, 1947 UN Partition Plan, realized it was now or never for a sovereign state. The Arabs, of course, had rejected the plan for two states—one Arab, one Jewish—and instead took up arms. They warned David Ben Gurion that a declaration of statehood would be met immediately by all-out war, from a half-dozen Arab states (themselves newly minted by the Western powers). In spite of the threats, Ben Gurion’s formed cabinet met at 4 in the afternoon, May 14, in Tel Aviv and declared statehood. The new State of Israel was born. Many of us have the famous front page from the Palestine Post (later to become the Jerusalem Post). Many don’t know the back-story, though. In the lead-up to the declaration, the Jews realized they needed the backing of a superpower; they needed the support of the United States. Truman’s cabinet infamously advised him not to do it. The feeling was (besides the latent anti-Semitism) that Arab oil was too precious a commodity to risk. Only White House Counsel Clark Clifford urged the president to recognize the new Jewish state. Truman did just that, defying the odds. The often profane, crusty fellow from Missouri would later say that he recalled the Bible readings in his home as a boy, in which God’s promises to re-gather the Jews are clearly set out. The support was absolutely critical, as Israel slowly built a state that was an economic, cultural, and social oasis in the Middle East. Flash forward to the early 1960s. It is not well-known that President Kennedy was a fan of Israel. His father of course was a notorious anti-Semite, but JFK and his brother, Bobby, had visited Israel more than once. In fact, JFK toured Palestine in 1939, on the eve of World War II, and in a letter to his father, showed a remarkable grasp of the problems and challenges in Mandate Palestine. He and Bobby visited in 1951, and JFK’s admiration for the Jewish state increased dramatically. Then later, during the presidential campaign of 1960, Kennedy had said: “Israel is the bright light now shining in the Middle East. We, and ultimately Israel’s neighbors, have much to learn from this center of democratic illumination, of unprecedented economic development, of human pioneering and intelligence and perseverance. “In 1939 I first saw Palestine, then an unhappy land under alien rule, and to a large extent then a barren land. In the words of Israel Zangwill: ‘The land without a people waited for the people without a land.’ In 1951, I traveled again to the land by the River Jordan, to see firsthand the new State of Israel. The transformation that had taken place was hard to believe. “For in those twelve years, a nation had been born, a desert had been reclaimed, and the most tragic victims of World War II—the survivors of the concentration camps and the ghettos—had found a home. “The survival and success of Israel and its peaceful acceptance by the other nations of the Middle East is essential.” One wonders what he would have done during the 1967 Six-Day War, but his successor, Lyndon Johnson, handled support for Israel well enough. Ironically, it was the next two Democrat presidents who did more to imperil Israel than any others…until the current one. Jimmy Carter wore his Southern Baptist heritage like an honor badge, and callously used it to fool evangelicals in the 1976 presidential campaign. Once in office, Carter had no intention of challenging Roe vs. Wade, or any other cause dear to the hearts of Bible-believing Christians. In fact, he turned his sights—incredibly—to forcing the Israelis to make “peace” with their neighbors. His open contempt for Menachem Begin was chilling. That, coupled with his disastrous policies regarding Iran, forever sealed Carter’s legacy as a bungler in foreign policy. The fallout has been catastrophic for millions. Next, fellow Southern Baptist Bill Clinton also knew how to coldly troll for votes by appealing to Bible-believing Christians. Many unfortunately voted for him, and upon arriving in the Oval Office, Clinton presided over the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords on the White House lawn in September, 1993. Not only did Clinton give a pass to the Palestinians on issues like incitement and open terrorism, he invited Yasser Arafat to the White House 13 times. Interestingly, after leaving office, Clinton revealed that he understood all the issues perfectly well, and even said that Arafat had torpedoed the peace process. But while in office, he kept up the charade and barely concealed his contempt for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (It is interesting to note that Begin and Netanyahu, both staunch Zionists, were held in contempt by the Americans.) Among other things, Clinton lied to Netanyahu in 1998, when the ink was drying on the Wye Accords, designed to jump-start the peace process. Clinton had promised to release Jonathan Pollard (convicted of spying for the Israelis), who would fly triumphantly home with Netanyahu. As the Israeli delegation was packing, word came down that Clinton was reneging on his promise. Not a surprise to those who knew him. Now, flash forward to 2013. The most openly hostile president to Israel, Barack Obama, once again is dealing with a Zionist Israeli premier. His hatred for Netanyahu is not even concealed anymore, and the recent American sell-out of Israel regarding the Iranian “deal” is a grave-misstep by Obama and John Kerry, his secretary of state. Obama is officially a member of the United Church of Christ, one of the most liberal denominations in the United States. His 20 years sitting at the feet of radical preacher Jeremiah Wright was baked in liberation theology, so his embrace of the Palestinians in hardly surprising. So, we have the various stances of American presidents from the Democrat Party. It is a sad progression from admiration and genuine friendship, to outright loathing. The irony is, Israel supporters feel sorry for Israel. I don’t. I feel sorry for her enemies. jim@prophecymatters
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 17:16:28 +0000
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