Jonah Goldberg:
For eight years, countless liberal Jews and other supporters of Israel have insisted that Obama is resolutely pro-Israel. By refusing to veto the U.N. resolution today, Obama has just thrown all of them under the bus. Elliott Abrams has a more exhaustive take that is very much worth reading. I’ll just focus on a few points of my own.
Unlike his ban on offshore oil drilling or his other regulatory schemes to hamper Donald Trump or pad his legacy, this move doesn’t help Democrats or hurt Donald Trump, but rather the other way around. This move will infuriate many pro-Israel Democratic donors and further cement the view that the Democratic Party, in its heart, is no longer a pro-Israel party. That is a gift to Donald Trump. It may even increase the likelihood that he moves the embassy to Jerusalem.
It is now the official position of the United States of America that the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians. That is madness.
Moreover, while this move is definitely bad for Israel, it is a gift to Bibi Netanyahu who can now more easily argue to Israelis that the bad relationship with America these last 8 years wasn’t his fault — but Obama’s.
And what, exactly, are the benefits to this move? Surely the Obama administration thinks this will produce some tangible benefit? I’ll leave that to that modern day Metternich Ben Rhodes to explain: