As in Judah Halevi's famous poem, U.S President Barack Obama may be in the West, but his heart is beating in the East. Even as he hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, his mind is somewhere else: in Kiev, in Crimea, but mostly in Moscow. American policy makers are dotting the i's and crossing the t's in Secretary of State John Kerry's peace plan, which is supposed to pave the way for continued talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Obama was expected to present it, at least verbally, to Netanyahu on Monday. They will discuss the Middle East, but is anyone in Washington still interested in what goes on in this region these days? Both Israeli and Palestinian teams have debated the emerging plan. Each side wants to lay blame on the other, but with the unfolding reality on the world stage -- with Russian president Vladimir Putin brazenly ignoring Obama's warnings as he quietly occupies Crimea and topples the regional government -- it is safe to say that the plan will hit a snag in the offices of the mediator-arbitrator in Washington before it encounters obstacles in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Israel should not put a spoke in the American wheel. It has no interest in doing so. It should embrace the American document, with caveats. There is also no point in stoking the fire with new construction plans in Judea and Samaria. Putin's conduct is reminiscent of what fascist regimes did in the 1930s. Of course, he has not carried out the same atrocities; far from it. But he, too, has come to believe in "Western decadence." The West did not act when Germany sent troops into the Rhineland, nor will it make a move to undo Russia's domination of Crimea. The threat Moscow leveled at Kiev was based on the reasonable assumption that Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin would not dare to lift a finger. Putin has made unilateral moves. He did not even bother deliberating the crisis at the U.N. Security Council. Meanwhile, the Pentagon recently announced it would reduce the size of its military. This could undermine the military umbrella America has promised its allies. Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger once said that the U.S. did not need to shout in order to be heard; but back then America had unimaginable force at its disposal and it was willing to use it. Its firepower and resolve have since eroded. Obama must realize that wavering on Kiev hurts Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts in the Middle East and a shrinking military inspires less awe among European allies. The crisis in Crimea has impacted the emerging peace plan; it will shape U.S. foreign policy everywhere else around the world, at least for the foreseeable future. Obama has failed to appreciate the impact the Ukrainian crisis has had on the U.S.'s international stature. The interview he gave to Bloomberg on Thursday was nothing short of a warning that one day Israel would not be able to rely on America's veto power to counter international pressure. What lies behind this tough rhetoric will become clearer when Netanyahu and Obama meet on Monday and in the coming weeks.
