Oren: Obama abandoned Israel

Netanyahu even apologized to Biden personally for the timing, Oren noted.

 

Obama, on the other hand, deliberately deviated from several long-held traditions in the US-Israel relationship, aired disagreements in the media, and pointedly skipped over Israel on his first Middle East tour after being elected, he said.

 

With these very public displays of dissatisfaction with Israel, Obama violated the “no sunlight,” as Oren referred to it, principle of not airing discord between the two governments.

 

Another principle Oren says Obama did not follow was one of “no surprises,” that is, refraining from public announcements of US expectations of Jerusalem until the issues had first been ironed out away from cameras and microphones.

 

According to Oren, Israeli leaders typically received advance copies of major American policy statements on the Middle East and could submit their comments.

 

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