4% Of Israelis Have Confidence In Obama

Joel Rosenberg ranks Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and French President Sarkozy the most pro-Israel leaders in the Western alliance right now. President Obama wouldn't even be on the list. Last Friday night, Joel gave an address to the Christian Embassy banquet in northern Virginia. The title of his talk was, "Train Wreck: The Coming Collision of U.S.-Israeli Relations." With deep concern and regret, he noted that just as the Iranian nuclear threat is worsening, we are currently witnessing the worst strains in U.S.-Israel relations in memory. Before January, polls showed 88% of Israelis believed President Bush was pro-Israel. In May, a Jerusalem Post poll found that only 31% of Israelis believed President Obama was pro-Israel. By August, a Jerusalem Post poll found only 4% of Israelis believed President Obama was pro-Israel. Israel's plummeting confidence that the White House truly understands their security needs and will stand with them as a faithful ally is the results of numerous actions and statements by the President and his senior advisers. These are just a few reasons for the meltdown in Israeli confidence in White House support for the Jewish State. But such trends have real-world effects. How could the Israeli people be expected to postpone a preemptive strike against Iran much longer if they don't believe the White House has a serious and effective plan to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them? How could Israeli people be expected to make major concessions in return for peace with the Palestinians if they don't fundamentally believe Israel's most faithful historic ally will truly be there for them if the going gets rough? On April 14th of this year, Joel said on the Glenn Beck show that he believed we were witnessing a coming "train wreck" in U.S.-Israeli relations over the Iran and Palestinian issues. The situation has only worsened since then. That's why Joel's in Israel for the next few weeks, leading a Joshua Fund "prayer & vision trip" - to better understand the dynamic that's underway, and to mobilize evangelical Christians in the U.S., Israel and around the world to bless Israel in real and practical ways, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, pray for wisdom for Israeli leaders, and pray for a change of heart in the Obama administration.