Rabbi Boteach: Obama Has Had 8 Years of Unremitting Hostility Towards Israel
After the U.S. abstained from the United Nations vote condemning Israeli settlements, there have been mounting allegations that the Obama administration actually had a role in advancing the resolution through the U.N. “The Israel Warrior” author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach weighed in on the future of U.S. relations with Israel.
“The Middle East goes to hell in a hand basket. You have three genocides in Syria, Yazidis are being slaughtered, Christians and Sunnis at the hands of Alawites and Shia and with all of that happening, with children being cluster bombed and attacked with sarin gas and mustard gas, he’s [Secretary of State John Kerry] concerned about Jews building apartments in East Jerusalem,” Boteach told the FOX Business Network’s Sandra Smith.
But Boteach was hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump could help mend America’s relationship with Israel.
“I’m optimistic that President-elect Trump will be a far greater friend to Israel than President Obama has been.”
According to Boteach, this is not the first time President Obama has caused tension with Israel.
“The fact is that President Obama has had eight years of unremitting hostility towards the Jewish state. He’s done good things, so let’s be fair, he has increased military and intelligence cooperation. And yet he’s demonized Israel little by little with things like the U.N. Security Council resolution.”
Boteach viewed the resolution as another example of how the United Nations has strayed from its original purpose.
“The United Nations was set up as a security apparatus to protect vulnerable countries from this kind of aggression and now it’s being used to condemn those countries. What happened to American values, of us protecting democracies, countries that espouse our values of freedom and openness and the right to congregate? The Palestinians have none of that.”
Despite the nuclear deal, Boteach views the U.S. as Iran’s major enemy, not Israel.
“Let’s not forget that Israel is the canary in the coal mine. When you say to fund terror we’re not just talking about Israel, which Iran threatens with annihilation a few times a week. [Iranians also threaten] ‘death to America,’ ‘death to America.’ You know, we have to remember that Iran’s ultimate enemy is, Iran sees Israel as a client-state of the United States – the great Satan is America.”