Obama shows caution on Middle East, rabbi says
As Barack Obama toured Israel and Palestinian territory last week and weighed in on one of the world's longest-running conflicts, Israel's relationship with Palestinians, Hyde Park Rabbi Arnold Wolf could only look on and sigh.
"I think he's very cautious," said Wolf, an Obama backer who has thrown fund-raising dinners at his home for Obama.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times file)
But sitting in his synagogue near Obama's Hyde Park home Friday, Wolf, 84, pastor emeritus of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation, added that that's "good if you want to be elected. It's not brilliant. It's not super-courageous. It's cautious, intelligent, appropriate."
So while Wolf thinks Obama would handle the Middle East better than his Republican opponent John McCain would, he didn't expect Obama to endorse the bold course Wolf himself would like to see: ending Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking in Sderot, Israel, after meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Obama made clear his "unshakable commitment to Israel's security."
But he also said, "I believe it is strongly in the interests of Israel's security to arrive at a lasting peace with the Palestinian people."
Obama repeated his pledge that Jerusalem must remain Israel's capital but added, "That's an issue that has to be dealt with with the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis."
Wolf has watched with dismay as "neo-cons" led by his former Yale classmate Paul Wolfowitz took U.S. Middle East policy in what Wolf considered a wrong direction as a top aide to President Bush, giving the Israelis a freer hand. In addition to demanding an end to attacks from the Palestinians, the U.S. government could force Israel's hand on the settlements, Wolf said.
Could an American presidential candidate advance those views and still be viable?
"You could come closer than Bush did, and I think Obama's already come closer," Wolf said.