קרוליין גליק
קרוליין גליקצילום: עצמי

Over the past eight years of the Obama Administration, US condemnations of Israeli construction beyond the 1949 armistice lines, including in Jerusalem, have become steadily more obsessive.

This has been part of an unambiguous policy to delegitimize Israel in America. Until Obama entered the White House in 2009, there was a clear difference between the attitudes of Europe and the attitude of the United States towards us. Under Obama we have witnessed the Europeanization of American attitudes towards the State of Israel.

So far, Obama's efforts have only been successful in the Democratic Party. Party activists have worked hand in hand with anti-Israel movements, most notably the BDS movement. In addition, several Democratic lawmakers have shown their willingness to abandon Israel, and that number is growing. Although they are still the minority in the party, Senator Tim Kaine, Democratic Candidate for President Hillary Clinton's running mate, was the first senator to announce that he would boycott Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress about the Iran nuclear deal. He is also one of the lawmakers closest to Obama.

When Israel goes to confront the hostility, it should operate on two levels simultaneously. First, Israel must continue and increase its Hasbara to the American public. Netanyahu's Facebook video protesting the international support for the Palestinian demand for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Judea and Samaria is a good start. But we need to have even stronger messages protesting the moves by the US and the international community against us and to justify the "settlements."

At the same time, Israel must act vigorously with the members of the UN Security Council, adopting a carrot-and-stick approach to oppose anti-Israel measures at the UN.

For a generation Israel's governments have rejected the idea that we can succeed if we resist the UN. It is time that we abandon this defeatist attitude and work diligently to broker deals with member states to reduce the room for Obama and Clinton, if she is elected, to maneuver against us in the Security Council.