Is Barack Obama anti-Israel?

My rule of thumb is simple: If you believe that the status quo in the Middle East is sustainable, which is to say, if you believe that Israel can maintain its settlements across the West Bank ad infinitum, and continue, into the indeterminate future, to subvert those Palestinians still working for a two-state solution, then Obama can plausibly be judged — rhetorically, at least — as anti-Israel.

If, however, you believe that the status quo is unsustainable — that Israel, for its own sake, should move expeditiously to disentangle itself from the lives of the Palestinians in advance of an eventual divorce, or else face a future in which it becomes a bi-national state or a country that legislates the permanent disenfranchisement of Palestinians (and therefore becomes a true global pariah) — then Obama can’t plausibly be labeled anti-Israel. The reverse, in fact, is true: For Obama, like many Israeli politicians, and ex-generals and spy chiefs, to be pro-Israel is to be in favor of liberating the country from its occupation of Palestinians.

Obama’s position on Israel’s future is analogous to that of the country’s current finance minister, Yair Lapid, and justice minister, Tzipi Livni, as well as that of the leader of the Labor Party, Isaac Herzog. These three understand that Israel is moving in a dangerous and self-destructive direction.