When he arrived on his first trip to Israel as president yesterday, President Obama publicly declared that the United States has an unbreakable bond with the Jewish state. Mr. Obama said he was “confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal. The United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend.”
Mr. Obama’s meetings with Israeli leaders continue today along with visits to important Jewish sites, including the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. In addition, the President will be meeting with Palestinian leaders and traveling to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity. As the crisis in the Middle East continues to boil, the threat to Israel and the need for support from the United States is great.
Of particular concern is the continuing civil war in Syria. Unconfirmed reports surfaced this week of the use of chemical weapons in Aleppo. Both the Assad government and the rebel forces accused the other of using them. Israel has been extremely concerned about the control of these weapons because they pose such a serious threat to the Jewish population in the hands of terrorists. Another major issue Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu are focused on is Iran. Mr. Obama continues to push Israel to avoid launching a military effort against the Iranian nuclear program.
All of the unrest in the region is taking a great toll on the daily lives of Jewish People. They are living with a level of threat and danger that is almost impossible for us to imagine. We simply don’t have to worry that missiles will rain down on our homes and our children’s schools at any moment, or that there might be a chemical weapons attack that would send us diving for the gas masks.
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