Former Israeli Ambassador warns U.S. colleges are creating anti-American citizens

Former Israel Ambassador Michael Oren says the U.S. may someday have faith again in its institutions but there are immediate obstacles – "not the least of which is that the elite universities in the United States produce graduates who don't necessarily believe in the United States."

Oren, who was Israel's ambassador the U.S. from 2009 to 2013, offered the observation Thursday on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast when asked whether Americans will be able to stop the infighting and make their nation strong again.

"Yes, but there are great obstacles," Oren replied. "There are obstacles that were beginning to emerge in the 1970s, but have come, you know, full blossom, not the least of which is that the elite universities in the United States produce graduates who don't necessarily believe in the United States."

He also questioned whether such schools "think that the United States is ... an exceptional country that's worth defending and fighting for, or that it has a mission to be the leader of the free world."

"For a country like Israel or a country like Japan, Germany, South Korea, an America that believes in itself and believes in its global mission was actually essential to our strategic outlook to our defense, and we have to rethink that," said Oren, reflecting on his time as a diplomat.  

He said the challenge "afoot in the United States [has] nothing to do with the Middle East" or East Asia.

"It has to do with what's going on internally," Oren said. "A country that right now, we see, that can't figure out how best to police itself, is not going to be busy policing the world, and is not in a position to project major power almost anywhere, almost any circumstances.

"So that is a very big difference from, say, the early '70s, because the United States, you know, then turned around and waged a successful first Gulf War. And plus, you know, operations in the Caribbean, were able to project power and then win the Cold War."