The Costly American Nomination

The American Intelligence Estimate from December 2007 buried within its pages a large blow to Israel. The subject was Iran, to which the intelligence community sounded an “all clear” signal: the Iranian nuclear weapons development program has stopped.

A ridiculous estimate, which has been corrected since, yet still carefully intended. The mission was to prevent the possibility of Bush deciding on a military action in his last year in office. Mission accomplished.

The person responsible for this report has a powerful title only few are aware of: chairman of the National Intelligence Council. The person Obama has intended for the job should arouse worries in Israel. He is a peculiar choice at best, and dangerous in the worst case scenario.

The repercussions from the great storm rocking Washington following the nomination are late to arrive in Israel, but the mere mention of Ambassador Charles “Chas” Freeman’s name redivided familiar blocks – the “supporters” of Israel that oppose his nomination, and the “critics” of Israel who quickly mobilized support. Freeman is a veteran in Washington, an acknowledged professional.

His list of sins, as far as Israel is concerned, is long. He claimed, among other things, that Israel enjoys a “blank check” in Washington, that only “American pressure” makes Israel move, that the United States lets Israel make the decisions as to what will happen in the Middle East, and that Israel’s behavior is getting further and further away from the “humane ideals” of Judaism. He also accused Israel of being responsible for the heavy price America has paid, and all this was said while he was receiving funding for his activities from the Saudi government.

A large group of Israel supporters – many of them astonished Obama voters – stood up to warn against the nomination. At the same time, a group of Freeman supporters also formed. They warned that it was another attempt made by the “Israeli lobby” to navigate the government’s policy (not by chance, one of Freeman’s biggest supporters is Professor Stephen Walt, one of the writers of the controversial book about the Jewish lobby). In this battle, at least for the time being, Freeman’s supporters have the upper hand. The government informed Congress about the nomination, as planned. But the storm shall go on.

This is an uneasy time for Obama supporters that believed, and still believe, the new president is not hostile to Israel. They are assuming this is only a mistake, just another mistake. Another nomination that was not checked thoroughly.

Similar storms were recorded during the presidential campaign over Professor Samantha Power who is close to Obama (and survived the campaign against her nomination, now holding an official position in the government), also because of the former ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer and former advisor to Bill Clinton, Robert Malley (who were both ejected during or after the campaign).

Even so, it seems Freeman’s nomination is not similar to them, not in essence nor in importance. This time, the man in question has gotten a lot further with his critique of Israel and will fill a sensitive and important position in the government. As it is, Obama, who wants to maintain his image as a friend of Israel, is having major difficulty.

The weapon he has put in the hands of those claiming all along that his friendship with Israel is nothing but a facade and that his government will disappoint Israel is extremely lethal. And they will use it.