Obama Resets the Relationship with Israel

Just in case anyone missed it. The Obama administration continues to undermine American-Israeli friendship. As I and many others noted, at their last White House meeting President Obama treated Prime Minister Netanyahu as the leader of a rogue state, someone you would not want to be seen with in public.

Now, we get the news that the Obama administration, through the agency of Hillary Clinton's State Department, has denied visas to Israeli nuclear scientists who wished to study in America. Reports assert that this has never before happened.

For now the story seems confined to the blogosphere-- read about it here and here-- but it signals that the Obama administration has defined Israel as a problem child and a whipping boy.

Recall that George Bush did everything in his power to keep Islamic radicals like Tariq Ramadan out of America. Now the Clinton State Department has happily accorded Ramadan a visa. At the same time George Bush was, by most accounts, the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.

Barack Obama has reversed the order, opening the hand of friendship to Islamist enemies while throwing a fist of defiance at the Israelis.

No one should be surprised to see how little influence elected Jewish officials have on the Obama policy toward Israel. Perhaps they will pass a resolution; perhaps they will retreat into silence.

Still, I suspect that Obama would never be this disrespectful toward Israel if he did not know that Jewish Democratic officials had his back.

[Correction: Roger Simon has just put up a post explaining that the information about the State Department's denying study visas to Israeli nuclear scientists is incorrect. As it happens the policy was begun after 9/11. Link here. The other instances of Obama's disrespect for Israel still stand.]