"Barack Obama delivered his own version of the Israeli national anthem this morning," says Bob Dreyfuss in his article on Obama's speech to AIPAC. Obama offered yet more military aid for Israel, more isolation of Hamas, more insinuations of war against Iran. All in all, a bit disappointing for a candidate who prides himself on speaking tough truths in front of the audiences that need to hear them (he brags often about telling auto executives they need to transition off of oil and investment bankers that they need to curb their greed). The speech, which you can read here, is much more about proving Obama's commitment to a hardline vision of supporting Israel than exhorting our allies in Jerusalem to cease constructing settlements so they have a stronger case to make to the world community. Sigh. Maybe after the election.But there were some interesting moments in the speech. In a shot at both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama said, "I won’t wait until the waning days of my presidency. I will take an active role, and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my Administration." That matters. US presidents tend to involve themselves in the peace process in the waning days of their administration, when their political capital is largely exhausted and when there's little hope of resuscitating the process if it fail on the first try. He renounces Hamas, but connects it to a critique of Bush's foreign policy. "There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations. That is why I opposed holding elections in 2006 with Hamas on the ballot. The Israelis and the Palestinian Authority warned us at the time against holding these elections." In other words, if the Republican Party hadn't forced these elections, then the question of negotiating with Hamas wouldn't even be on the table. Along the same lines, he sings from AIPAC's prayerbook on the threat Iran poses to Israel, but he uses the threat as a way to slam Bush and McCain's foreign policy and dramatize the strategic failure of the Iraq War. It's an important flash of insight to the approach Obama will take in the Fall, so I'm going to quote it at length: OBAMA AT AIPAC.
"Barack Obama delivered his own version of the Israeli national anthem this morning," says Bob Dreyfuss in his article on Obama's speech to AIPAC. Obama offered yet more military aid for Israel, more isolation of Hamas, more insinuations of war against Iran. All in all, a bit disappointing for a candidate who prides himself on speaking tough truths in front of the audiences that need to hear them (he brags often about telling auto executives they need to transition off of oil and investment bankers that they need to curb their greed). The speech, which you can read here, is much more about proving Obama's commitment to a hardline vision of supporting Israel than exhorting our allies in Jerusalem to cease constructing settlements so they have a stronger case to make to the world community. Sigh. Maybe after the election.But there were some interesting moments in the speech. In a shot at both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama said, "I won’t wait until the waning days of my presidency. I will take an active role, and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my Administration." That matters. US presidents tend to involve themselves in the peace process in the waning days of their administration, when their political capital is largely exhausted and when there's little hope of resuscitating the process if it fail on the first try. He renounces Hamas, but connects it to a critique of Bush's foreign policy. "There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations. That is why I opposed holding elections in 2006 with Hamas on the ballot. The Israelis and the Palestinian Authority warned us at the time against holding these elections." In other words, if the Republican Party hadn't forced these elections, then the question of negotiating with Hamas wouldn't even be on the table. Along the same lines, he sings from AIPAC's prayerbook on the threat Iran poses to Israel, but he uses the threat as a way to slam Bush and McCain's foreign policy and dramatize the strategic failure of the Iraq War. It's an important flash of insight to the approach Obama will take in the Fall, so I'm going to quote it at length: 
