JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Did Obama say that? Did the RJC say that Obama said that? Did the NJDC say that about the RJC saying

By Ami Eden · July 22, 2008

As predicted, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the right-wing blogosphere were quick on the draw regarding anything sounding the least bit even-handed or sympathetic toward the Palestinians during Obama's trip to Israel.

Well, the RJC didn't even have to wait for Obama to arrive in Israel. The group issued a released blasting Obama for saying in Jordan that terrorism makes "Israelis want to dig in and simply think about their own security regardless of what's going on beyond their borders."

The RJC:

What Senator Obama fails to recognize is that the safety and security of its citizenry is the primary obligation of a country's leadership. In essence, Senator Obama is asking Israelis and the American Jewish community to put terrorism in context. Senator Obama continues his rhetoric of moral equivalence by implying that measures taken by Israel to protect its citizens are on par with the Palestinians' frustration at border checkpoints. Senator Obama's attempt at even-handed diplomacy fails to hold Palestinians accountable for using terrorist tactics against innocent Israeli citizens as a means to achieve their ends.

Again, the Obama line as quoted in the RJC press release: "Israelis want to dig in and simply think about their own security regardless of what's going on beyond their borders."

Now here's the line in context:

So one of the things I think the United States is going to have to do is to help build capacity, make sure that Israel feels secure. And obviously the tragedy that happened with the bulldozer does not help with their security. That breeds a sense of insecurity.

And that's why terrorism is so counterproductive, as well as being immoral, because it makes, I believe, the Israelis want to dig in and simply think about their own security regardless of what's going on beyond their borders. I think the same would be true of any people when these kinds of things happen and innocent people are injured.

On the other hand, I think that the Palestinians have to feel some sense of progress in terms of their economic situation, you know, whether it's on the West Bank or Gaza, if people continually feel pressed, where they can't get to their job or they can't make a living, they get frustrated....

And it's hard for them if they see no glimmer of hope to then want to take a leap in order to make impressions.

Not surprisingly, Ira Forman of the National Jewish Democratic Council thinks the RJC is guilty of ... well, um, read the description yourself:

After reading Senator Barack Obama's statement and then the Republican Jewish Coalition's (RJC) "interpretation" of that statement I am totally baffled. I can only imagine that the head of the RJC put on one of those hats with horns on it that Shamans might wear. Then they must have proceeded to whip themselves into a fury dancing around a fire pit stoked with acacia wood. Then by pouring the blood of a red newt over the Obama statement and reading the statement by the light of the acacia fire they could somehow divine an anti-Israel message out of what appears, to everybody else, to be a pro-Israel statement.

This is typical of the drivel that Republican operatives have been churning out in a frantic attempt to take a pro-Israel Senator like Barack Obama and demonize him as an anti-Israel activist.

Over at Commentary's Contentions blog, Jennifer Rubin also jumps on Obama's comments, but zeros on what he said after the line that got the RJC all hyped up. In particular, she has problems with this quote:

And so, I think what the United States can do is — is to help to create more — a greater sense of security among the Israelis, a greater sense that economic progress and increased freedom of movement is something that can be accomplished in the Palestinian territories.

(Is that so different than the Bush administration line?)

8 Comments | Share This | Barack Obama, Featured, Presidential Race |

McCain launches Jewish effort in Florida

By Ami Eden · July 22, 2008

McCain opens Jewish shop in Florida, with who else but ... Joe Lieberman:

JOHN MCCAIN ANNOUNCES FLORIDA JEWISH STEERING COMMITTEE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Press Office

Monday, July 21, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, FL U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced the McCain 2008 Florida Jewish Steering Committee. John McCain values the support of the Jewish community. He fully recognizes the patriotism and hard work of the Jewish community as well as their influence on our nation.

"John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be commander-in-chief and lead this country on day one," said Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, Chair of the Florida Jewish Steering Committee. "As a Jewish American, I recognize Senator McCain has been a long-time friend of the Jewish community and shares our values. His twenty-five year record of unequivocal support for the state of Israel and his overall foreign policy experience is unmatched, and that is why I am proud to stand with my fellow Jewish leaders in supporting his campaign for President."

On Monday, July 21st at 1:00 p.m. EDT, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman will visit the Shul of Bal Harbor in South Florida on Senator McCain's behalf.

MCCAIN 2008 FLORIDA JEWISH STEERING COMMITTEE

STATEWIDE CO-CHAIRS State Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff State Representative Adam Hasner

REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE

Panhandle Region Jodi Chase, North Florida Co-Chair Mark Kaplan, North Florida Co-Chair Jared Ross, North Florida Co-Chair

Northeast Florida Region

State Representative Dick Kravitz, Honorary Northeast Florida Regional Chair

Central Florida Region

Dr. David Diamond, Central Florida Regional Co-Chair Jonathan Kilman, Jewish Outreach Chair Dr. Mark Klafter, Central Florida Regional Co-Chair

Tampa Bay Region

Dr. Robert Entel, Pinellas County Co-Chair Shelly Kamins, West Coast Regional Co-Chair Diane Sembler-Kamins, West Coast Regional Co-Chair Herb Swarzman, Hillsborough County Co-Chair Brian Taub, Hillsborough County Co-Chair

South Florida Region

Jeffrey Feingold, South Florida Regional Co-Chair Rabbi Andrew Jacobs, Broward County Co-Chair Rabbi Cheryl Jacobs, Broward County Co-Chair Josh Karsh, South Florida Regional Co-Chair Ron Krongold, Miami-Dade Co-Chair for Jewish Outreach Scott W. Rothstein, Esq., South Florida Regional Co-Chair Stanley Tate, Miami-Dade Co-Chair for Jewish Outreach

Volunteer Staff Frima Enghelberg, Jewish Grassroots, Volunteer, & Events Coordinator, Miami-Dade Arielle Rosayn, Jewish Grassroots, Volunteer, & Events Coordinator, Broward Leah Sabin, Jewish Grassroots, Volunteer, & Events Coordinator, Palm Beach

6 Comments | Share This | Florida, John McCain, Presidential Race |

On Tuesday, Obama went to Jordan and Israel

By Ami Eden · July 22, 2008

Barack Obama speaks in Jordan.

Obama speaks some more upon arriving in Israel.

0 Comments | Share This | Barack Obama, Presidential Race |

Obama in Israel: What to look for

By Ami Eden · July 22, 2008

It's not quite as big a stage as the AIPAC policy conference in Washington, but plenty of pundits and Jewish observers will be paying attention Wednesday as Barack Obama visits Israel (the first half of the sentence was a joke ... I think).

Obama spoke at the AIPAC parley back in early June, the morning after the final Democratic primaries came to a close and most everyone in the country (except Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton and a few loyalists) had recognized him as the party's presumptive nominee.

That speech was supposed to be the final word – it was going to put to rest any doubts among Jewish voters about Obama's pro-Israel bona fides. And not a moment too soon, with hawkish Jewish Democrats starting to think about their options in the fall and a Gallup poll showing Obama winning a bit more than 60 percent of the Jewish vote in a hypothetical matchup in the general election against John McCain – five points worse than Clinton and about 15 points below John Kerry's numbers in 2004.

To be sure, judging from the applause, the AIPAC speech was well received by the 5,000-plus in attendance, but the subsequent flap over Obama's call for a "united Jerusalem" – culminating with one aide saying Obama had misused the term and the candidate himself blaming "poor phrasing" – took some wind out of Team Obama's sails. It also raised some legitimate questions about whether the campaign was ready to handle the prime-time balancing act required in navigating the domestic and international politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

So here we go again: Now the Obama campaign is facing yet another key moment with Jewish voters. And again it comes on the heels of a poll – this one commissioned by J Street, the fledgling left-wing Middle East advocacy group – showing Obama stuck at about 60 percent.

With that in mind, here are a few things to watch during Obama's day in Israel and the West Bank, which is scheduled to include visits with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Likud opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad.

MESSAGE: The challenge is for Obama to reassure AIPAC types about his commitment to Israel's security, without angering his base, which sees the Democratic nominee as someone willing to break from President Bush's neocon foreign policy. Already feeling testy following Obama's vote in favor of the FISA bill, many of his most enthusiastic supporters will not take well to an AIPAC-sounding Obama in Israel.

So does Obama focus on the need for an end to Palestinian violence? Israeli settlements and restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank? The goal of achieving a Palestinian state? Will Obama and his advisers be sure to avoid additional poor phrasings?

JERUSALEM: Representatives of Orthodox and right-wing organizations are holding a press conference and a rally in Jerusalem Tuesday night, during which organizers say they will ask for clarification on Obama's views on Jerusalem. Organizers say they were spooked by Obama's comment to Fareed Zakaria that the Clinton parameters from 2000 – which included the idea of assigning the Israelis and the Palestinians control over different parts of Jerusalem – "provides a starting point for discussions between the parties." Obama did go on to stress that the "parties are going to have to negotiate these issues on their own, with the strong engagement of the United States." The "let the parties decide" position puts him in the same boat as McCain, but if Obama sticks to the idea that Clinton's proposal is a good starting point, then he can expect some pushback from some Jewish and Israeli corners.

DENNIS ROSS: The Republican Jewish Coalition took aim at Obama when it mistakenly thought that he was bringing Chuck Hagel with him to Israel, noting that Joe Lieberman was McCain's wing man during his trip in May to the Jewish state.

Well, as Time noted, Obama is bringing Dennis Ross with him to Israel. In Ross, Obama has a tour guide with more hands-on experience in dealing with Israeli and Palestinian leaders than Lieberman, and possibly commands more respect across a wider range of the political spectrum. Ross is a longtime proponent of an active U.S. peacemaking role with ties to the think tank most associated with AIPAC and has logged time as a commentator for FOX News (and unlike the liberals who get brought on to serve as a punching bag, Ross is often on by himself, and the hosts seem to listen to him). The Jewish Agency for Israel tapped Ross to chair its think tank about the future of the Jewish people.

In short, it's hard to imagine a better person for Obama to hang out with in Israel if the goal is to say, "Yeah, I'm for a two-state solution – but relax, I come to it from the pro-Israel perspective, not the Mearsheimer-Walt worldview."

MAHMOUD ABBAS and SALAAM FAYYAD: The meetings with Palestinian leaders could prove to be the most challenging part of the trip, at least politically. Never mind that Bush has repeatedly made clear that Abbas and Fayyad are his guys, or that McCain says he shares the president's positive view of them – conservatives will be waiting to pounce on any word or image suggesting that Obama is at home with Palestinians.

At the same time Obama, like Bush and McCain, believes the U.S. should be doing whatever it can to help Fatah in its struggle with Hamas. So how does he manage to signal strong support for Abbas and Fayyad without providing too much ammo to Republican Jewish Coalition and the right-wing blogosphere. Another wrinkle: The Abbas meeting comes as the P.A. leader is facing criticism from the U.S. State Department for reportedly congratulating comes amid reports that he congratulated Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar on his release from an Israeli prison. (It doesn't help Obama in some circles that McCain passed on meetings with Palestinian leaders during his May trip, though he made a point of praising Abbas.)

EHUD OLMERT: Last year, the Israeli prime minister ruffled some Democratic feathers at the AIPAC conference by overtly siding with Bush on the Iraq war. During his speech at this year's gathering, he made several on-the-fly departures from his prepared text, all seemingly aimed at striking a more bipartisan tone than he did the year before.

With Obama ahead in the polls, and Israel in need of U.S. leadership on Iran, will Olmert continue to do a better job of hedging his (and by extension his country's) bets? The Democratic candidate doesn't need Olmert to undercut Bush and McCain, as the Iraqi prime minister did Tuesday by essentially endorsing Obama's idea of a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops. Just a decent photo op without any grumblings about Obama from unnamed sources in the Prime Minister's Office could provide a boost.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Bibi, the Likud opposition leader, has never been shy about making common cause with neocons and Christian conservatives (ask Bill Clinton). And Obama has objected to the "strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you're anti-Israel."

Netanyahu and Obama are a sharp contrast in styles and worldviews. Polls suggest that come next year they will be leading their respective countries, so now would be a good time to start playing nice – or to start positioning for the upper hand in what could prove to be a bumpy relationship.

4 Comments | Share This | AIPAC policy conference, Barack Obama, Featured, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Presidential Race, RJC |

Mideast measures Obama

By Uriel Heilman · July 22, 2008

On the eve of Barack Obama's trip to Israel, The New York Times reports that an Obama presidency would be seen across the Arab world as little different than a McCain presidency, or even a Bush or Clinton presidency, for that matter.

For what feels like forever, Israelis and their Arab neighbors have been hopelessly deadlocked on how to resolve the Palestinian crisis. But there is one point they may now agree on: If elected president, Senator Barack Obama will not fundamentally recalibrate America's relationship with Israel, or the Arab world.

From the religious center of Jerusalem to the rolling hills of Amman to the crowded streets of Cairo, dozens of interviews revealed a similar sentiment: the United States will ultimately support Israel over the Palestinians, no matter who the president is. That presumption promoted a degree of relief in Israel and resignation here in Jordan and in Israel's other Arab neighbors.

It's exactly the opposite conclusion The New Republic drew when it visited the Arab world earlier this month to ask about an Obama presidency.

Obama was slated to fly to Israel after his visit to Baghdad – with a stop in Amman along the way (it's tough to get a direct flight from Baghdad to Tel Aviv). In Iraq, the presumptive Democratic nominee got a boost from Iraq's prime minister when Nuri al-Maliki endorsed Obama's timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 2010.

The man behind Maliki's endorsement of Obama's plan? According to The New York Sun, it's no other than Ahmed Chalabi, the one-time head of the Iraqi National Congress, the Iraqi opposition group in exile dedicated to the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime. It's a strange thing, since Chalabi has been a reviled figure among liberals for, they say, snookering the United States into war with Iraq. Here's the Sun's take on Maliki's endorsement of the Obama plan:

It was a move aimed at ingratiating the Shiite ruling majority in Baghdad with the man they expect to win the November presidential election, American and Iraqi officials said. If it works, it could be a stroke of brilliance, putting Mr. Obama in debt to the Iraqi leader for saving what could have been a disastrous trip to Iraq and defusing what could have been a troubling campaign issue. It could also backfire if a President McCain gets the idea that the Iraqi government is betraying the American politician who, after President Bush, has risked the most on a successful Iraq.

The matter was taken up at a meeting of Iraq's National Security Council on Thursday on the recommendation of Mr. Maliki, who had been advised by the Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi to express public support for the Obama withdrawal plan. Asked for a comment yesterday, Mr. Chalabi, an old hand at working the American political process to the advantage of Iraq, conveyed a statement via his Washington representative, Francis Brooke: "This is an honor I will not claim and a rumor I will not deny."

Meanwhile, the Daily Show suggests that the real danger for Baruch Obama is not in the Mideast, but in South Florida:

3 Comments | Share This | Barack Obama, Presidential Race |

Run, rabbi, run

By Uriel Heilman · July 22, 2008

One of the more interesting congressional races this year is in New Jersey's 5th district, where a blind rabbi named Dennis Shulman, a Democrat, is closing the gap against Republican incumbent Scott Garrett, who is known for being pro-Israel and for his conservative views.

Shulman, an ordained Reform rabbi with a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard, has done a formidable job raising money for his run, Time magazine reports, and Congressional Quarterly recently upgraded Shulman's chances, changing the district's rating from "Safe Republican" to "Republican Favored." The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin offers a profile of the candidate in this week's Talk of the Town.

Shulman has been endorsed by J Street, the new left-wing pro-Israel lobby, while Garrett remains a favorite of the more hawkish pro-Israel community.

9 Comments | Share This | Congressional races |