Rubin smells Rove
Jamie Rubin, a Clinton administration assistant secretary of state, smells Bush strategist Karl Rove tactics all over efforts (led by the Republican Jewish Coalition) to tar Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as unfriendly to Israel. Rove's strategy is to beat at an opponents perceived strength until it crumbles (witness the Swift Boat smears targeting the 2004 Democratic candidate, Sen. John Kerry, a decorated war hero). Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) picked Biden as a running mate in part because Biden's close ties to Israel and the pro-Israel community help make up for Obama's relative greenness in that area.
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Barack Obama,
Israel,
Joe Biden,
Presidential Race
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BIDEN VS PALIN
As Bill Levinson points out, Biden once threatened Shamir with cutting off funds because we were building “settlements” on Jewish Land.
astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2008/08/joe-biden-wrong-on-iran-inconsistent-on.html
Sarah Palin is a staunch friend of Israel
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018326.html
It’s interesting how the two comments here actually prove the point of the original statement. I do not know if Palin is or is not a true friend of Israel, so even though I do not care for her politics in general, I would never accuse her of anything for which I do not have reliable information.
However, I do not understand why anyone would accuse either Obama or Biden of being anything but good friends to Israel. Just because Biden expressed deep concern about building the settlements does not mean he is not a friend of Israel. Millions of people, including the majority of Israelis, believe the settlements were a mistake and are a major cause of the lack of progress in any form of peace talks.
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Bill Levinson
09/05/08 10:49 PM
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal describes how Biden voted to cut off aid to South Vietnam in 1973, thus causing the deaths of millions of people and the enslavement of millions more.
Biden also once threatened to cut off aid to Israel, but was put in his place by Menachim Begin (which Democrat Patrick Moynihan later praised).