Joel Mowbray comes running to the rescue of state senator Ted Deutch, running to fill the South Florida seat of former Rep. Robert Wexler.
To recap, on Tuesday, March 16, I called Ted Deutch’s campaign office and asked if he had issued a statement on developments between the U.S. and Israel. Ashley Mushnick, deputy campaign manager for Deutch, said he had not issued any statements on the matter. I left my contact information with her. Later that day, the campaign apparently issued a statement to selected media entities and supporters, and did not contact me. I contacted the campaign again on Thursday, made the same request, and again heard no response. During that week, no media or publication picked up or disseminated the candidate’s statement, and as of Thursday, it was not on the candidate’s web site.
I only heard about Deutch’s statement on March 23, after my article on the candidate had been posted on NRO, when a friend who follows Israeli issues forwarded the statement to me. To this day, I have heard less than bupkus from the Deutch campaign.
Now Deutch tells Mowbray:
Anything I would say about how Jerusalem homes aren’t settlements and that we need to stop discussing settlements only keeps the issue alive. As Prime Minister Netanyahu was quick to point out himself, far more important to Israel is acting to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
How convenient. When the administration stands with Israel, he and every other pro-Israeli Democrat can cheer loudly, but when the president and secretary of state intensify what the Israeli ambassador calls the “worst crisis in 35 years” for U.S.-Israel relations, offering any critical word of criticism of the administration’s course would be “only keeping the issue alive.”
It’s fascinating that when the Obama administration and Israel find themselves in conflict, Deutch contends the best thing a pro-Israel Democrat can do is quote Marcel Marceau.