The Obama administration’s response to the new book by former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren is part of an opportunistic effort “to portray itself as a loyal friend to Israel,” Jonathan Tobin wrote Thursday in Commentary.

The motives for these denunciations are obvious. The president knows that the truth about his hostility to Israel is not only politically damaging but extremely ill timed. With the Iran nuclear agreement likely to be signed this summer, the administration wants to portray itself as a loyal friend to Israel in order to convince a skeptical Congress that this weak pact isn’t a betrayal of the Jewish state. …

The angry denials of tension by the Americans and the obsequious flattery of Obama by some Israelis might lead us to think that Oren is exaggerating things. But the former ambassador, whose even-handed account is highly critical of some decisions made by Netanyahu’s government, merely wrote what everyone who follows the Middle East knows. This administration came into office seeking to distance itself from Israel and has not missed an opportunity to ambush the Israelis and to tilt the diplomatic playing field in the direction of their foes.

There is also no secret about the fact that these efforts did nothing to advance the cause of peace or the interests of the U.S. or Israel. And that is why Oren’s truth telling is so important at this moment in history.

In his review of Oren’s book, Ben Cohen, senior editor of The Tower, wrote that Obama’s “paternalistic approach” towards Israel and the Middle East had the effect of boosting Iran’s influence in the Middle East and halting any progress on the peace process.

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