Daniel Lubetzky

The Washington Post published an in-depth article on “Where Obama failed on forging peace in the Middle East”, which I strongly recommend.

My analysis somewhat dovetails the article’s facts and insights:

1) When he ran for President, in contrast to Hillary Clinton’s campaign juxtaposing against Republican evil, Obama was able to transcend deep partisanship and get people to feel there was a better way that was not “Us Vs Them” but “all of Us” for a better future; for some sad reason, Obama never realized he could translate that same vision to the Middle East; he saw it as a zero sum game – build credibility with the Arabs, at the expense of the Israelis; he declined to stop over Jerusalem after his Cairo speech; that was a huge mistake; he should have built credibility with the Arabs and reassured them about his vision AND also reassure Israelis and build credibility with them – employing the OneVoice language and framework;

2) President Obama made a major tactical mistake that turned into a strategic blunder of the highest geopolitical order: he demanded a freeze in the West Bank AND all of East Jerusalem, something that Netanyahu realized would not fly with the Israeli or Jewish constituencies, so Netanyahu made Jerusalem his battle cry and sought to create a wedge to undermine the US Administration’s position; he masterfully focused on Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, not as occupied land, even though West Jerusalem where the capital is located was of course never at stake; Netanyahu put the entire spotlight on JERUSALEM; everyone forgot about the West Bank and the settlements that are clearly a problem for the vast majority of Israelis also; American Jewish opinion and Israeli opinion swerved assertively against the “anti-Jerusalem” demands; and Obama eventually retrenched; to this day the damage persists because now President Abbas cannot be less Palestinian that the US President was, and can’t demand anything less than Obama did. This misstep still resonates today. I was just in Israel and Palestine for meetings with several high level officials and this issue came up multiple times.

a. Most important, no US President should ask for something publicly prior to being certain that he can get it. It is like lawyers not asking questions at trial that they don’t already know the answer to!

3) Obama’s efforts focused solely on top-down government actions, rather than appealing to the People, and partnering with the People. Everyone keeps blaming political representatives for their lack of leadership. But we are mum about the responsibilities of the millions of Israeli and Palestinian – and international – citizens who want to end the conflict. We need to find a way to vest the people with the power and responsibility that they have. And then to unleash their goodwill in a concrete and constructive way. At the PeaceWorks Foundation we are working precisely on such a plan. So stand by!

The attached ad appeared across different newspapers this past weekend. I am immensely inspired by Howard’s leadership on this front. Partisanship is the source of stagnation in DC and across the Statehouses, at a time when we desperately and urgently need leadership to address all the policy challenges we face, including the financial and trade deficits, the education system, our foreign policy, and the overall challenge of special interests and extremist agendas overtaking the greater interests of society. If we as citizens cede the stage, these challenges will not be resolved.

Stu Eizenstat recently launched a book on a fascinating and weighty subject. “The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States” promises to be an interesting read and can be purchased on Amazon.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Cohen

This article illustrates that the MF Global scandal is outrageous primarily because of the firm’s leaders’ illegal actions and refusal to admit responsibility.  Moreover, there has been failure to aggressively investigate the responsible parties and if this crime goes unpunished, this incident will further undermine the financial system.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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This is one of the most cogent pieces written about the behind the scenes machinations that took place at MF Global – and the motivations behind them.

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This article by Joe Nocera foils the good and bad kinds of capitalism.  Starbucks, with its moral business practices and efforts to help our society, represents the good kind of capitalism, while Nocera points to last week’s Goldman Sachs coverage as an example of “’rip your eyeballs out’ capitalism." Whether or not you give validity to Greg Smith’s Goldman criticisms, Nocera concludes that Goldman should take a lesson from Howard Schultz and that “the best way to do well really is to do good.”

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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This NYT article by Joe Nocera argues that Jon Corzine is going to get off the hook for pilfering money from segregated consumer accounts.  It’s ridiculous to believe that the MF Global Executives took this money by accident as they have claimed- and it’s even more ridiculous that they may exit blame free as it sets a concerning precedent for future “accidents.”

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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Read this heartbreaking article to see the story of Dean Tofteland and how he has carried out his father’s legacy despite hazards and obstacles.  But the MF Global scandal, “a financial tsunami,”  really “hurt so much,” and poses unprecedented hardships that must be addressed.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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This speech is a must-read. It obviously was given to a constituency solely concerned with strengthening Israeli-American bonds and alignment and is clear the President had to counteract opponents who seek to distort his record. It doesn’t do enough (or anything) to share with the Israeli people, and the American Jewish community, the necessary sacrifices and compromises that Israel will need to make to achieve comprehensive and permanent security and peace. But in an election year a speech before AIPAC need not do so.

What the speech does in a principled and lucid way is highlight that President Obama is a solid ally of Israel and all the myths and distortions in the world cannot deny his record.

Most important, President Obama convincingly demonstrates that his engagement offer to Iran at the beginning of his Administration, as much as many of us were skeptical about, was a prerequisite to give him and the US the credibility to align the entire international community behind sanctions against the Iranian regime when it refused to deal constructively and concretely to cure its nuclear proliferation violations. 

I personally do not believe the present Iranian regime will abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability under any circumstance, no matter the pressure exerted, no matter whether overtly or covertly (the assessment would be the same both for a fanatical AND a rational actor in this case). But I agree that President Obama has to exhaust diplomatic options as part of the process, even as time runs out because a military confrontation once Iran has crossed the rubicon will be more dangerous to America, to Israel, to Iran’s Arab neighbors and all its neighbors, and to civilization.

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In his state of the union, President Obama praised Apple for all it has done for the US economy.  However, in the past President Obama asked Steve Jobs if there was any way to manufacture iPhones in the US, creating more jobs and further boosting the economy.  This article explains why keeping the software jobs in the US are equally crucial, and why we can still be optimistic.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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