In his book Faith or Fear (1997) Elliott Abrams expresses considerable suspicion of black Americans’ attitudes toward Jews. “Anti-Semitism appears to be growing among American blacks… [Louis Farrakhan’s] message has received a sympathetic hearing from all too many black audiences–not least on college campuses, where tomorrow’s black elites are being educated,” and this concern seems to motivate his post on the Sarkozy/Obama snub, at the Council of Foreign Relations, which snidely paints Europe and the U.S. as anti-Semitic. The undercurrent of Abrams’s remarks is that there is nothing that Netanyahu can do to affect his relationship with these western leaders, they hate the “Jewish State.” And, implicitly, they refuse to deal with a Jew on equal terms.



If this were only a matter of personal relations between Obama and Netanyahu, it could be left at that. But it is far more consequential, for by that comment—and especially as it was made in private and can be interpreted as his actual view—President Obama has joined the chorus of assaults on the Jewish State. We only have one president at a time and they only have one prime minister. To treat the prime minister of Israel in this way is disgraceful. In the very week that he moves on outposts—something Sharon and Olmert completely failed to do—he is called names by the French and the insults are apparently accepted and approved by the Americans. The advice to Bibi would have to be “forget it. Forget the possibility that Obama will ever treat you fairly. Forget the idea that he will give you a fair shake or pay attention to what you are actually doing.”

Oh, update, thanks to Mark Wauck: Newt Gingrich all but accuses Sarkozy of anti-Semitism. And implies as much about Obama and the east coast “elites.”