President Obama, Orientalist?

A reader who wishes not to be named, as he toils behind enemy lines—at a university—emails with a good question. It’s about this statement by President Obama in his speech at Adas Israel synagogue last Friday:

“And it is precisely because I care so deeply about the state of Israel — it’s precisely because, yes, I have high expectations for Israel the same way I have high expectations for the United States of America — that I feel a responsibility to speak out honestly about what I think will lead to long-term security and to the preservation of a true democracy in the Jewish homeland.”