News / Foreign Policy

I still fully support Israel, Obama assures US Jews

Friday, 22 May 2015 5:21 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 22 May 2015 5:22 PM ]

US President Barack Obama speaks at the Adas Israel congregation on May 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)

US President Barack Obama has sought to reassure Jews in the United States that he still fully supports Israel during a speech before an audience at an American synagogue.

Speaking on Friday in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month at Adas Israel, Washington’s most prominent conservative synagogue, Obama said, “Our commitment to Israel’s security and my commitment to Israel’s security is and always will be unshakable.”

He added that not doing so would be a “moral failing” on the part of him and his country.

“There’s a direct line between supporting the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland and to feel safe and free of discrimination and persecution, and the right of African Americans to vote and have equal protection under the law,” America’s first black president said. “These things are indivisible in my mind.”

Obama's speech comes a day after he gave a long interview to The Atlantic, in which he blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed deep concern with the direction Israel has been heading under the Likud party leadership.

Obama said that he cares so much about Israel and the Jewish people, "I feel obliged to speak honestly and truthfully about what I think will be most likely to lead to long-term security."

“I want Israel, in the same way that I want the United States, to embody the Judeo-Christian and, ultimately then, what I believe are human or universal values that have led to progress over a millennium,” he said.

US President Barack Obama (right) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu clinched a divisive victory in the hotly-contested March 17 Israeli election. He made opposition to nuclear negotiations with Iran a centerpiece of his reelection campaign. He also rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, which has been a pillar of US foreign policy.

Furthermore, a day before the election, Netanyahu warned that Arab Israelis were going to the polls "in droves".

Obama said during the Atlantic interview, "It appeared that Arab Israeli citizens were somehow portrayed as an invading force that might vote, and that this should be guarded against.”

"When something like that happens, that has foreign policy consequences," the American president said.

The US president is both angry at Netanyahu’s accepting the Republican invitation to address Congress on March 3 without consulting the White House and excessive Israel lobby interference in American foreign policy.

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