The chutzpah of Barack Obama to lecture Israel

The same Barack Obama, former U.S. President who, back in 2012, issued a warning that “the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would be crossing a ‘red line,’” has now decided to lecture Israel, warning “that any strategy the Israeli military takes in its war against Hamas that ignores the danger to civilians could ultimately backfire.”

Apparently, he thought that we hadn’t figured that one out by ourselves. What would we have done without the sage advice from the same guy who relented, on his own red line, once it was known that chemical weapons had, indeed, been used on Syrian civilians but no action was taken by him? It goes without saying that Obama is well aware of the fact that Gazan citizens are being used as human shields, while their terrorist government operatives hide behind such public places as hospitals, schools, mosques and densely populated neighborhoods.

But what’s that to Obama, who lives in his secure estate on Martha’s Vineyard? He’ll never have to worry about incoming rockets or invading terrorists who would have no problem gouging out the eyes of his children, setting his family on fire or burning down his house. It’s so easy to be a vocal critic of a country which is fighting for its very existence, when living a super-privileged life while being guarded and protected every moment. 

Sadly, we here in Israel don’t have the luxury of going to bed at night and knowing if we will not be woken up to the sound of sirens, forcing us to run into our bomb shelters until the rockets have, hopefully, been intercepted by our Iron Dome. We also don’t have the luxury of knowing that terrorists will not continue to attempt invasion into our sovereign land, because they still are. Just on Tuesday, at least four were spotted and killed by our military when they tried to enter Israel through the Mediterranean waters of the Zikim Beach near Ashkelon. 

Yet, it is at this moment that we are supposed to consider the victimized citizens of Gaza, whose lives have been placed in jeopardy through no fault of our own. We did not start this war, but it is up to us to finish it!

With all due respect, is there any president or prime minister who would not do everything they could to protect the safety and security of their citizens no matter what that requires? If not, would that leader be worthy of their role? On the one hand, Obama says that we have a right to defend ourselves, but his stern warning sets such a defense as being conditional upon not acting if it puts innocents in peril. Did our enemies take that into account before they enacted the worst slaughter that the State of Israel has ever seen in its 75-year existence? Not for one moment.

Quite the opposite. Their mission consisted of how much death and destruction they could wreak in order to gain respect and prestige by their families and friends, who are the people we are supposed to consider before ourselves. But it’s odd that Obama called out the atrocities as “wanton violence,” because most anyone would think that those two words should qualify as an act of war which demands no conditions. Yet, it’s very consistent with his own limited clarity of what needs to be done, because, according to him, we should “dismantle their military capabilities” as well as “facilitate the safe return of hundreds of hostages to their families.”

The return of the hostages is a no-brainer, as is the dismantling of their military capabilities, but what the former president failed to acknowledge is the need to kill every last terrorist whose chief aim is to annihilate every Jew – not just those in Israel, but those who live abroad as well. Not to do so would mean a repeat of these atrocities anytime there is a hunger by Hamas to execute them, and theirs is a hearty appetite.

But Obama’s sympathies lie with the already “thousands of Palestinians who have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children as well as hundreds of thousands having been forced from their homes.” 

Why is he not directing those sentiments towards the ones who initiated this human tragedy, not only for innocent Israelis, but for their own people as well – the people that we are supposed to be doing our utmost to protect? Why lecture us about the indifference Hamas has toward their own people? That’s what we call “chutzpah.”

Because, as Obama puts it, “the world is watching closely as events in the region unfold and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire.” I disagree. The world may, indeed, be watching, but they are seeing something else. Instead of admitting that none of this death and resultant displaced people would exist, had it not been for the events of Oct. 7, which can only be laid at the feet of the terror group Hamas, no one would be crying foul! And that is why it is fair to say the world is not watching. They are simply watching what they want to watch but, regrettably, it does not necessarily constitute the truth.

Instead of worrying about water, food and electricity being cut off to the people of Gaza, how about remembering over 1,400 innocent dead people who will no longer need those necessities, because their lives were cut off rather than the mere utilities. They were moms, dads, children, babies, grandparents, our friends, our neighbors and our people, who did nothing wrong nor deserved what happened to them.

Obama’s feigned concern for the “erosion of our global support” is almost laughable, because Israel, and now the Jewish people as a whole, are all too aware of the fact that we are not terribly liked in this evil world that looks upon us as not being worthy to exist, so spare us the bogus worry. 

At least be honest about what you hope will happen – that the Middle East will not go up in flames over the gruesome acts which constitute a second Holocaust, but this time on our own soil, because Israel will obediently continue to kick the can down the road. That’s Obama’s idea of peace and stability in the region – move on, get over it and turn the other cheek.

Well, that cheek is now too bruised and bloodied to turn. Israel will do what she has to do, because that is our obligation, as it would be for any other nation. What we don’t need is to be reminded of how to strike back in a way that shows mercy, because the most moral army in the world will do its job, and with God’s help, we will strike down the enemy while He protects those who are doing their precarious duty to fight haters of humanity, be they Jew or non-Jew!