Tablet’s Allison Hoffman has a big piece on Team Obama’s recent desire to improve its standing in the Jewish community. The argument that Team Obama seems to be making is that Obama has lots of Jewish friends — some of my best friends are Jewish — and that there is some kind of nefarious “whisper campaign” against Obama on the issue of Israel.
The argument is flawed on several fronts. I don’t doubt that Obama has Jewish friends, but this has not made his Israel policies any more palatable. As for the notion of a whisper campaign, it seems to me that Republicans have been shouting their concerns about Obama and Israel from the rooftops. Nobody seems to be whispering, not the Emergency Committee for Israel, not the Republican Jewish Coalition, not Dan Senor, nor any of the dozens of writers and analysts who have made the case that Obama has exhibited a certain coldness towards Israel and towards Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Debbie Wasserman Schultz seems to be leading the bury-your-head-in-the-sand brigade when she says that “To the extent we have a problem, it’s being created by individuals who . . . are attempting to mischaracterize, distort, and lie about the president’s record.” There is no need to “distort” or “mischaracterize” Obama’s problematic record on Israel. Dan Senor gave the best short summary of the argument in the Wall Street Journal in September, and it is as yet unrefuted in a serious way. Obama and his team can denounce their critics and trot out a host of liberal Jews to say what a great guy he is, but that will not change the fact that many in the pro-Israel community, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, recognize the problem and will be willing to vote accordingly in November.
I'll tell you what they're "whispering"...
Arab Spring.
Obama's Middle East policy is a disaster which our children will be paying for in the form of greater insecurity here at home, and quite possibly a Gulf War III in the next 3-5 years barring a major change in course by this and the next U.S. President.
We are not dealing with basically rational Russians who did not want their country irradiated. We're are dealing with religious fanatics who would consider nuclear annihilation a form of martyrdom for themselves and a very efficient, large-scale way to fire back up the Auschwitz ovens and fire pits.
Thus far, Obama has sided with the fanatics.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"We are not dealing with basically rational Russians who did not want their country irradiated."
Yeah, the Muslims don't love their children, too.
And Iran is run by people who believe in the coming of the 12th Imam - all they need is chaos. Gee, how do we achieve that, Achmed?
The world is indeed a very dangerous place. Thanks to Mr. Nobel Peace Price Winner.
~gag~
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThey love their children so much they'll strap an exploding vest to any of them who score lower than 100 on a standard IQ test.
Somehow I don't think Sting will be writing songs about hoping the Islamists love their children too.
Remember, that Nobel was for potential future accomplishments. So anything good that happens for the next 20 years will go in Obama's Nobel, and anything bad will be blamed on the Jews and House Tea Party Republicans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSure, the President has Jewish friends--the ones that would just seem to value the electoral chances of American modern liberalism more than firmly preventing the chances of one day Jewish women and children being slaughtered as they are pushed into the Mediterranean sea by an ultimately triumphant Palestinian state.
Because you know, sometimes military disasters happen. What keeps those disasters from happening, sometimes, is that the wars they happen in never start in the first place. Usually because someone bigger and badder makes it very clear to a potential aggressor that any victory will be only momentary--perhaps extremely momentary. Until the PA and the rest of the anti-Semitic portion of the world gets that message, there is no hope for any long-term solution. That message will not be delivered by the current occupant of the White House, ever--at least not in a timely enough fashion that prevents bloodshed (being as how public opinion polls are usually lagging, not leading, factors in the affairs of state).
Of course, the way things are going, we should never again hear anything from certain quarters about the lackadaisical approach the United States took to getting into the European side of WWII. Of course, that is in a world where all possess intellectual integrity.
I hope to visit that place one day.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseObama has plenty of Jewish friends... at J Street.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, to cultivate trust within the Jewish community, Obama spends maybe nine minutes, pre-season, lighting all the menorah candles at once, then skips out. Yep, that oughtta shut the Jews up.
It's one thing to not give a da*n about throwing Israel under the bus, another entirely to let everyone know you don't.
This is hardly the first time he's pulled this kind of sophomoric wise-A'd stunt.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's not that difficult to fool the dumbest voting bloc in America.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's not that difficult to fool the dumbest voting bloc in America.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"There is no need to “distort” or “mischaracterize” Obama’s problematic record on Israel. Dan Senor gave the best short summary of the argument in the Wall Street Journal in September, and it is as yet unrefuted in a serious way."
Tevi, if Dan Senor's article is "the best short summary," then there's absolutely nothing to the charge. Senor's article, afterall, is simply a compilation of quotes and anecdotes. Nothing the Obama Administration has said, moreover, is as disrespectful as Binyamin Netanyahu bypassing our executive branch and making his case to the president's domestic opponents in Congress. We certainly wouldn't expect the British or Canadian PMs to behave in such a fashion, and when you represent a vassal state on the dole for $5 billion a year, it's in even poorer taste. (And Eric Cantor's response to the PM's entreaties, a promise to curtail the President's foreign policy-making powers on behalf of the Israeli government, is borderline seditious.)
President Obama's policy with respect to Israel is no different from that of any of his predecessors: an end to violence and a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. If that's no longer acceptable to the right-wing in this country, then the President isn't anti-Israel, you've simply moved the goalposts.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe 1967 borders were militarily indefensible. That is why the 6 Day War was offensive in nature. However, your statement begs the question, which US President, prior to Obama, advocated a return to these borders? Can you quote Reagan or either of the Bush's to that effect? If Jimmy Carter thought that was the case, did he ever say so when he was in office? Clinton? Nixon? Ford? Do you have any documentation for this claim whatsoever?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"The 1967 borders were militarily indefensible. That is why the 6 Day War was offensive in nature."
That was debatable then, it is not debatable now. Israel has nuclear weapons and a second-strike capability. None of Israel's potential enemies is capable of defeating Israel in either a conventional or nuclear war.
"However, your statement begs the question, which US President, prior to Obama, advocated a return to these borders?"
1967 borders + land swaps has been plan for the past three administrations. Clinton negotiated such a plan with Barak and Arafat, and here's George W. Bush advocating essentially the same map:
"Any final status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 Armistice lines must be mutually agreed to. A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity of the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will not work."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, "simply a compilation of quotes and anecdotes" that shows this adminstration's hostility toward Israel. And why should PM Netanyahu show this administration any more respect than has been shown him. (other than Israel is always expected to be the one to compromise). Finally please provide quotes from Obama's predecessors to back up your statement.
“I will make you into a great nation,
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuseand I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3
No, no, you don't understand.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOnly white men can be bigots, and a person composed of so may diverse fragments (black/white, Muslim/Christian, Kenya/Hawaii/Indonesia/Chicago) is obviously devoid of any such flaws.
Of course, what to do about Arabs as a group is really tough. It's not difficult to solve, just very unpleasant to implement. What do you do with people who want to die?
Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Grand Rabbi in Brooklyn, told a gathering of 30,000 of his followers on Saturday night that religious Jews should condemn those who “insult” President Barack Obama.
“Recently, certain self-appointed Jewish leaders have gotten up and insulted the President in the worst way, their words have been broadcast on the radio and television and all the media, why should Jews come out in public with statements like these?” the Rabbi said in remarks at the New York State Armory in Crown Heights, according to a release from the Central Rabbinical Organization. “It’s forbidden by the Torah to do so, it provokes the nations to hate us, and it brings danger upon Jews not only here but all over the globe, who knows what the effects of this irresponsible behavior could be? Therefore it is our obligation to make known that religious Jewry is completely opposed to these self-appointed leaders, we pray every day for our country and we bless its leaders with success in all their efforts to bring peace to the world.”
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseExternal Link
"Obama and his team can denounce their critics and trot out a host of liberal Jews to say what a great guy he is, but that will not change the fact that many in the pro-Israel community, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, recognize the problem and will be willing to vote accordingly in November."
You mean the Jewish voters who voted for McCain will vote for the Republican candidate in 2012? Big whoop. These aren't Obama voters and never have been. The vast majority of Jewish voters are Democrats, vote for Democrats and will vote for Obama and Democrats down the ticket in 2012. This is just the usual wishful thinking from some who make these claims every election and then ignore the turnout numbers showing Jewish voters went for the Democrats every time.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSpend three and a half years hugging the people who shout from the rooftops, "Kill all the Jews and all their friends!" and light all eight candles on the Menorah in the White House a couple days before the start of Hannukah... pretty good strategy.
The only real question here, is how much of the Orthodox community he carries. The Reform and secular communities are already in his pocket, and not put off by his warm embrace of the Jew haters. It's funny because if he was that friendly to people who want to eliminate, say, the Irish, we'd have a revolution on our hands. Most of the Jews I know can't say enough good things about Obama though. Weird. I don't get it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse