By James Wilson
Never in American history has an outgoing administration moved to aggressively undermine an incoming one…until now. Knowing the pro-life stance of Donald Trump, a majority of America’s voters and Congress, and more and more state legislatures, Barack Obama ordered new rules forbidding the defunding of Planned Parenthood in the waning days of his rule. In retaliation for alleged Russian hacking of Democratic Party emails during the election the outgoing president has expelled thirty-five members of her diplomatic/intelligence corps and emplaced sanctions against Russia. It is irrelevant that no evidence of the Russian hacking has been made public while Planned Parenthood’s crimes are well documented; the issue is the blatant effort to hamstring the new administration in multiple dimensions before it can take the office it has earned.
His most serious sabotage is reserved for Israel, longtime object of Obama’s special hatred. A president who complains his successor may undo US policy over five administrations has uprooted America’s Israel policy spanning nine administrations by ordering abstention instead of veto on the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.
Israel accuses Obama of collusion in drafting the resolution, something he denies. Other sources say the British were behind the draft. It doesn’t matter; Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Ambassador Samantha Power were very public in their support of the resolution. The jury is in on Obama Administration complicity, not to mention the shame shared by joint movers-of-the-motion New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal, and Venezuela.
Just as irrelevant is the allegation Israeli settlements exist in violation of a Geneva Convention provision forbidding the annexation of lands taken from a state in war. There is no such provision in the Convention, and Palestine is not a state. Beyond that is reality – Israel has lived on that land over three thousand years. She re-took lands conquered by the Roman Empire, occupied by Ottoman Turks, and gifted to Jordan and Syria by the UN in 1948. She re-took those lands while repelling an extermination; she has never fired first.
Two issues are relevant. The first is simple justice. Israel was attacked the day after her birth and she has been attacked – between open warfare and less formal campaigns of terrorism – again and again without ever offering aggression of her own. (There have been a few and private acts of terrorism perpetrated by Israelis but they would fill a teacup compared to the sea of terror on the other side.) I don’t know how committed to a two-state solution Israel remains, but I do know they have twice offered virtually everything Palestinians demand and been answered only by escalating violence. Israel is so committed to the authentic provisions of the Geneva Convention she pointedly warns civilians to evacuate areas she is about to attack. She remains the Middle East’s lone functional democracy surrounded by enemies bent on her destruction twenty times her size. She is truly David facing down Goliath, a victim of massive racism and absolutely not its perpetrator.
The second issue is the Word of God; this holds good news for some and bad news for others. Israel is unique in that her founding was not just in covenant with God but by His direct and dynamic action. Genesis 12:3 is explicit in claiming God will bless those who bless His Jewish children and curse those who do not; He reiterates His promise throughout the prophetic tradition and backs it with no less than the resurrection of Israel after two millennia of non-existence as a nation. This is utterly without precedent or parallel.
Modern history is replete with episodes of fruit in nations that did or did not back Israel. Harry Truman was unequivocal in his support; he led the US out of recession despite the quagmire of Korea. Lyndon Johnson was just as staunch; he managed to fight a failing war in Vietnam, navigate the Civil Rights Movement, and begin his Great Society re-make of economy and culture at the same time. Dwight Eisenhower abandoned Israel in the 1956 Suez war and promptly found his America back in recession. The sun actually did set on the British Empire, but only after her blatant favor to Israel’s attackers before and after the partition of Palestine.
God wants to bless all of His children – and we are all His children – from Israeli settler to ISIS terrorist. He does have certain minimum standards of behavior in the family, just like other parents. Justice – and occasionally mercy – for Israel are at or near the core for Him. Acts of betrayal – by outgoing presidents or anyone else – are not recommended.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships, The Holy Spirit and the End Times, and Kingdom in Pursuit – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at praynorthstate@gmail.com
