President Barack Obama insisted on Sunday that Israel had a right to defend itself but said it would be “preferable” to avoid an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.
He said persuading Israel not to attack would depend on the success of efforts by Middle East leaders to bring a halt to Hamas rocket fire into Israel.
“There’s no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders,” Obama told a news conference during a visit to Thailand. “We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Israeli forces struck Gaza terrorists for a fifth straight day on Sunday and its military prepared for a possible ground invasion, although Egypt, which is trying to mediate, held out hopes that a ceasefire could be reached.
Asked whether he believed an Israeli ground invasion would be an escalation of the conflict and if he would support such a move anyway, Obama said he had been in regular contact with Egyptian and Turkish leaders to secure their help in stopping Hamas’s rocket barrages, which he called the “precipitating event” in the conflict.
“My message to all of them was Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory,” Obama said in his first public comments on the Gaza crisis.
“If this can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in Gaza, that is preferable, that’s not just preferable for the people of Gaza, it’s also preferable for Israelis because if Israeli troops are in Gaza they’re much more at risk of incurring fatalities or being wounded,” he said.
“We’re going to have to see what kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours,” Obama added.
(Reuters)
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14 Responses
Good Job Obama
I must say living in the outskirts of Jerusalem, there is tension in the air. Although people are going abouth their usual lives, there is definitely some jitters. All tefillos are definitely helpful, as it is absolutely marvelous the nissim going on at each breathing second.
Thank you YWN for having such accurate and up-to-date news. May HaShem protect all those living in Eretz Yisroel and may this war be victorious – and soon!
He supports Israel’s right to defend itself from attack?? Wow, he must be from the Chaseday umos haolam!
Frankly, given a choice, I prefer the skinheads and other brutes who express their anti-Semitism openly. In such places, we know the enemy.
But please spare me the pieties and the righteous indignation of those “good people” protesting throughout Europe against Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza. True, thousands have taken up banners in support of Israel and Jews all over the world are expressing support. At the same time, however, the streets of Europe (and even some in America) are in an uproar. These are the “humanitarians” – the good, the noble, the refined, who chant “peace.”Now you’re up and about? Now you speak? Where were you when, throughout the years, thousands of jihadist bombs fell on Israel? The streets of Europe were empty. There were no pictures in the newspapers of grieving Jewish mothers and fathers, of frightened old people and children. You called it “peace” as long as the Arabs were doing the killing and the Jews were doing the dying. All was well with the world.
Suddenly, as Israel answers back, you found your Cause; and how self-righteous you are in your Cause.
You are the best and the brightest of Europe. You are educated. You attended the finest schools. You care for the birds, the bees, the bears, the trees. You favor free speech and freedom of religion. Strange it is that the one and only place in the Middle East that shares your world-view is Israel, and it is Israel that you slander.
Israel is a Jewish State. Is that your problem? At the first hint of Jewish self-defense, how quickly you show your true colors.
I’ve seen the photos of your candlelight vigils along the streets and boulevards of Europe, all of it; all these tears in the service of those terrorists whom you call your brothers. Indeed you are related to Hamas (and Fatah) as once before, a mere generation ago, you were related to Hitler’s stormtroopers. Your angelic faces are touching – and disgusting. Your hypocrisy is transparent and nauseating.
You speak of disproportion. You want proportion? Give Israel a population of 300 million residing in 22 countries, similar to the Arab Muslims who surround and ambush Israel – instead of six million Jews in one single country. There’s plenty of “proportion” coming from your BBC, which delights in presenting one side of the story and picks up where Der Sturmer left off. Now, with this type of “news”, we know how Europe was conditioned for a Holocaust.
Already we see Nights of Broken Glass. Thank you, Europe, for reminding us why America was discovered just in time (and why Israel was redeemed many generations too late). You dare judge Israel? In your deportations, your expulsions, your forced conversions, your inquisitions, your pogroms, you have no moral authority over Israel or even within your own borders. You gave all that up from 1492 to 1942..
To those on the Left who sought peace, well, dear peace-lovers, peace brought this on. “Land for Peace” made this happen, as Land for Peace became Land for Jihad. “Painful Concessions” caused this war. “Goodwill Gestures backfired. Want more “peace”? Give up the Golan Heights. Give up the entire “West Bank”. Give up Jerusalem. Imagine the “peace.”
As for those “innocent civilians” in Gaza, they were given a choice and they chose Hamas. They chose this pestilence.
As for those “refugee camps” – why are they “refugee camps” when Israel handed over all that territory for a nation to be built in peace and security alongside Israel? Why are all Palestinians automatically refugees even after they’ve been given a home? The only true refugees are the thousands of Israelis who were driven from Gaza and still live in trailer parks. No tears for them in this world that still dreams of Auschwitz.
Once, in response to a column I wrote about Theresienstadt, someone responded that I was incorrect; that Theresienstadt was not a prelude to Auschwitz, but rather “a vacation resort.” I wrote back wishing this person a lifetime in such vacation resorts. I wish the same lifetime vacation resorts to all those parading throughout the streets of Europe or demonstating in New York at the Israeli Consulate, with banners crying, “Death to Israel.”
Thanks obama for your support, please don’t change you mind after lunch
Why do israeli leaders cowardly refrain from using the green light given by american presidents to defend themselves. Olmert squandered the green light during cast iron and lebanon wars and now bibi is doing the same. The enemy should crushed and discarded not left maimed with a greater desire for revenge
Instead of negativity, all of us should be calling the white house to be THANKING the President! When the President backs Israel he has to hear that we appreciate and recognize their efforts on behalf of Israel.
Everything is in the hands of Hashem and we all know that and can’t stop our teffilos and gemelus chasadim in our brothers zechus! However this is our histadlus.
We should only share besuros tovos!
OBAMA is EVIL
THANKS BUT NO THANKS
Basically he is saying Chamas dictates the war! there are NO consequence to their actions. So when chamas decides to stop shooting Israel must stop fighting right then and there. How Evil,the US is fighting the Taliban some 10 years after they first attacked, thousands dead and we are not finished, but ISrael must stop when Chamas needs a break?
As far as Im concerned, Israel did nothing! They bombed a couple of empty buildings.
What happened to Israel threat “if you fire at Tel Aviv there will be” …….
They fired on Tel Aviv and NOTHING happened!
Does anyone REMEMBER THE GRAD THREAT, Israel said to Chamas, “if u fire a Grad missile we will….. they fired the Grad missile and nothing happened. Empty threat is worse than no threat.
BARUCH HASHEM!!!! What would we have done if we didnt have Obama’s permission???!!!!!
hubby.nurse, that was a beautiful, and scarily dead-on piece. Just sharpen it a bit, and you should really try to publish it.. Obviously, we don’t expect NYTimes to be so honest, but try some other middle of the road publication.
Also, AnonyMiss is very right…in addition to our teffilos and learning, we should be calling the White House and thanking Pres. Obama for his honesty and support.
Yw, please publish the post of hubby.nurse. His writing hit me in the solar plexus. It’s stark, arresting, and he says it just exactly as it is. I was blown away. Kudos to you, hubby.nurse.
Re: Obama, thank you for your support. I give you credit for voicing support so strongly (what you say and do is all according to G-d’s will). Baruch Hashem for the nissim, gluyim v’nistarim, with which He helps and protects His children in Israel and all over the world.
May Hashem grant victory against the barbaric Arab terrorists, monsters who endlessly seek to destroy the living. May Hashem bring us Moshiach today!
Thank you President Obama.
Someone please post the phone number and email of the whitehouse?
Hubby.nurse, ever heard of halochoh eisov sonei es yakov? Are you trying to undo that?
When you call Almighty Obama don’t forget to tell him we DON’T believe he suddenly became chozer b’tshuva and we don’t believe his words either. As we see in the Parsha in 2 weeks, Echud b’peh v’echod b’laiv is WRONG!
Thank you, our President:
WASHINGTON – Published: 07.27.12, AP President Barack Obama said Friday he is releasing an additional $70 million for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system,…
The stepped-up US aid, first announced in May, will go to help Israel expand production of the short-range rocket defense system, which has proved successful at stopping rocket attacks fired at Israeli civilians from close range, including from Gaza. …
“As many of you know, I have made it a top priority for my administration to deepen cooperation with Israel across the whole spectrum of security issues, intelligence, military, technology,” Obama said during the signing ceremony.