If Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were running for President of the United States, he "would promise to support Israel and guarantee its security, and would move the United States embassy to Jerusalem," wrote Abdul Rahman Al Rashed, General Manager of the Al Arabiya news network.

He stated that Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama's enthusiastic support for Israel is standard operating procedure for every American candidate. "Even the Israelis cannot believe the promises," wrote Al Rashed.

Writing in the London-based A-sharq Al-Awsat, newspaper on Tuesday under the headline "Is Obama a Political Fraud," he noted that Labor Knesset Member Ofir Pines-Paz said of Senator Obama, "I respect him but suspect him."

Al Rashed reminded readers that every American president must commit himself to Israel's security because Israel was the most loyal Middle East country to the U.S. during the Cold war with the Soviet Union.

"The United States considers Israel as its big stick, which it uses when needed, a service that none of the friendly Arab countries can do," he wrote. "The price is relatively inexpensive [because] the United States spent funds in Iraq in five years, to no avail, more than it has spent on Israel in 60 years. This viewpoint does not seem clear to Arabs."

The United States considers Israel as its big stick.

He concluded with a parting shot for Arabs, who he said do not understand that Senator Obama had to state support for Israel in order to bolster his chances of becoming the next president. Al Rashed maintained that the candidate was not worried about satisfying Arabs. The writer explained, "What for? The Arabs themselves are unable to satisfy one another, and are ashamed to sit at the negotiating table [with Israel] if not in secret."