The Obama administration has gotten into hot water over Israel and the level of pressure inflicted on the Jewish state. Pro-Israel groups in the United States and many Israelis have criticized the White House on several different fronts, including calls by the administration to end Israeli settlement construction. Similarly, when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the White House, the Obama administration was criticized for not embracing Netanyahu through joint statements and appearances.
Well, the State Department issued a rather interesting statement on the mosque and Quran burning in Hebron. Palestinians contend that Israeli settlers torched the mosque, in a type of incident that has occurred several times recently.
Days after the attack, the State Department said:
“We condemn this attack in the strongest terms and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. We note that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Barak have also condemned the attack and have called for an investigation.”
The interesting elements of this statement are the timeliness and the second sentence.
The Obama administration should be applauded for condemning the attack, but that condemnation should not be couched under cover that both Netanyahu and Barak have made similar statements. The administration should immediately condemn such actions regardless of whether or not Israeli officials feel the same way.
The reason behind the delay could be for several reasons. On one hand, the administration might not have felt it necessary to release a statement until asked. Or, the administration might not have known about the attack, although I highly doubt that approach.
Or, perhaps, the administration awaited strong statements from Israeli officials and felt it necessary to ‘take the temperature’ of Israel supporters in the United States. And, when determining that condemning the attack is politically safe, then the administration felt it had the green light to comment forcefully.
In any of these scenarios, the administration should have responded sooner. Both Hamas — through terror attacks murdering innocent Israelis — and some extremist settlers — such as those that allegedly torched the mosque — are attempting to undermine the peace process in its infancy by fueling distrust.
Strong and rapid condemnation by the administration on any group that jeopardizes the peace process is essential. And, awaiting either a question from a reporter or political cover from the Israelis is no way to show leadership on a foreign policy priority.
