print Print Cartoon

Questions

1.  To what news item does the cartoon refer?

2.  What is cartoonist Ramirez implying about President Obama’s relationship with Israel?


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Answers

1.   President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday at the White House.  The main topic was Israel’s concern over Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the Iran’s threat to ‘wipe Israel off the map’.

The cartoon is referring to President Obama’s statement during his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, that he “has Israel’s back” which was believed to mean that should Israel go to war with Iran, the U.S. would contribute military support to Israel.

During a presidential news conference the day after meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, when questioned by a reporter, President Obama clarified his statement by saying that having Israel’s back is “not a military doctrine that we were laying out for any particular military action. It was a restatement of our consistent position that the security of Israel is something I deeply care about . . . [and] confirms how deeply we care about it.”

2.  Ramirez is implying that President Obama does not really support Israel.