(MintPress) – “Barack Obama is a true friend of the State of Israel, and has been since the beginning of his public life,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres when announcing Israel’s decision to award the U.S. President the Israeli Presidential Medal of Distinction on Monday.
Peres, the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House last year continued, “During his time the president has made a unique contribution to the security of the State of Israel, both through further strengthening the strategic cooperation between the countries and through the joint development of technology to defend against rockets and terrorism.”
Obama played an instrumental role in securing Congressional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system which has successfully intercepted 90 percent of rockets launched by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip since being deployed in 2011. According to U.N. figures, 2,256 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza in 2012.
This rocket defense has helped cut down on the number of potential civilian fatalities and injuries in Israel. Conversely, Obama has done virtually nothing to criticize Israeli incursions into Gaza, the most recent Operation Defense of Pillar in November 2012 killed 158 Palestinians, 103 of whom were civilians according to U.N. estimates.
The U.S. quickly agreed to sell $647 million worth of weapons to Israel the following month, allowing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to restock their arsenal after the attacks on Gaza.
This is in addition to the robust aid package given to Israel each year. Over the past four years, Obama has supported maintaining U.S. military aid to Israel, the highest single aid package to any country at $3.1 billion annually.
The aid package is given without conditions, despite the continued construction of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. In December 2012, Israeli officials announced a plan to build 3,000 settlement units on land known as “E-1.” The land is part of a vital corridor connecting East Jerusalem to other Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
Building illegal homes in this area spell an almost certain end to the long sought two-state solution, first agreed upon during the 1993 Oslo Accords. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon joined a chorus of international criticism in December calling the decision a “near fatal blow to the two state solution.”
Two faces of Obama
Since his 2009 speech in Cairo calling for a new relationship with the Arab world and a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue, Obama’s pro-Israel credentials have been consistently questioned by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the other appendages of the Israel lobby in Washington.
His receipt of one of the highest Israeli awards may assuage some fears within the pro-Israel lobby.
Peres’ announcement this week comes at the same time as unrest spreads throughout the occupied West Bank. More than 1,000 protesters took to the streets of Hebron and Nablus, protesting against Israel’s use of administrative detention.
Of the more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, more than 200 are held under administrative detention, a power allowing Israeli authorities to hold prisoners without charge or due process of law.
Nearly 1,000 prisoners are carrying out hunger strikes of varying lengths to protest the illegal detention of prisoners who have not been charged with any crimes. Samer Issawi has led the action, carrying out a hunger strike for more than 210 days. He is reportedly on the brink of death, having lost his vision and more than 50 pounds.