Shlomo Shamir

The vote by many of the Jews in favor of Obama was a protest on their part against the ascendancy of the right in Israel and an expression of anxiety about the future of Israel under a right-wing government led by Likud-Beiteinu.

It seems the disappearance from the agenda of returning to Zion is not seen in the United States as a crisis or even a problem, just as a natural phenomenon one must get used to.

The same international community that didn't even attempt to put an end to the slaughter of citizens in Syria, can console itself with a demonstration of affection for the occupied Palestinian nation, while hurling criticism and accusations at Israel.

A recent assessment in New York, based on data provided by Palestinians and other Arabs, predicted a majority - 135 of 192 members - voting in favor of Palestinian statehood. After Netanyahu's speech, the majority could climb to more than 160.

Who knows? The UN might one day decide to implement its doctrine of 'responsibility to protect' during a Hamas-Israel conflict. Seems unlikely? So did the initiative for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state a few months ago.

The settlements have been defined as the number-one problem impeding peace, and no Israeli attempt to blame the stalemate on the Palestinians will be accepted at the UN.

Tracking down someone in the UN corridors willing to hear Israel's version of who is to blame for the impasse in the peace process, or someone who holds even a shred of understanding for the continued building in the territories, is mission impossible.

Those who ought to be worried about the impending situation in the United States - a sweeping Republican majority in the 112th House of Representatives, which begins its term this month - are first and foremost people on the Israeli right.

As soon as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government took office in Jerusalem, it seems the American Jewish right fell asleep.

American Jewish community and analysts following presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama's campaigns do not remember such direct or extensive involvement of rabbis in the political arena.

Whether or not Senator Barack Obama of Illinois wins the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in light of his sweeping victory in South Carolina this weekend, he will be remembered favorably by the Jewish community.

How much longer will it take until the Orthodox rabbis in Israel understand that it is impossible to continue their wide-scale repudiation of the largest religious stream among American Jewry?

The recent contempt toward the rabbis was a clear reflection of the privatization of Hasidic Judaism and rabbinic authority, a change that is gaining momentum in Israel and in Haredi and Hasidic communities in the United States.

Kofi Annan had the best of intentions, but not enough to turn him into a true hero who made a difference in the end.