At Daily Kos, the denizens are discussing whether Barack Obama has fallen under the spell of the “Zionist Lobby:” Daily Kos: Obama’s Speech at AIPAC: A New Concession to the Zionist Lobby?

Obama gave possibly the most vaunted foreign policy speech today at the AIPAC conference. He’s once again reiterating and repeating his committment to Israel’ security and well being as well as his belief in the historical bound between the US and the Jewish state. Remarkably, he also promised that Jerusalem will become Israel’s capital, something that unheard of from Hillary, Bill Clinton, and even the Bushes. In terms of Iran, Obama promised to use a strong diplomacy and no longer applying the word “unconditional” dialogues with the Mullah’s regime. Instead, he would carefully set up a preparation before engaging with it and only when Iran will not become a threat to the state of Israel (it sounds like a conditionality to me).  

Obama’s speech today is, unquestionably, a beautiful music for Israel and the Jewish lobby, while giving a sense of deja vu for the Palestinians and, most probably, an anti climax message to the Muslim world. It seems that it would be delusional now to expect a different trajectory for the six decades Israeli-Palestinian conflict after listening to the speech. If anything, the speech will send a strong message for the people in the Mideast to prepare for another eight years of continuous violence.  

It’s revealing to me that even a Presidential candidate whose main credential and strongest message is about change could only go so far when it comes to foreign policy related with Israel and the Mideast. If the AIPAC speech will become Obama’s policy blue print for the Mideast in the next eight years, I would argue that there will be no significant and real change in terms of conflict resolutions and the relationship between the Arab and Muslim world with the US.

(Hat tip: BFSkinner.)

UPDATE at 6/4/08 9:34:43 am:

And another anti-Israel, pro-Obama diary sums up the speeches to AIPAC as: Daily Kos: Three Candidates Falling Over Each Other To Kiss AIPAC’s Ass.