NJDC Talking Points Featured on Huffington Post

Aaron Keyak — June 18, 2009 – 11:58 am | Democrats | Iran | Israel | Obama Comments (1) Add a comment

Huffington Post’s Sam Stein wrote a piece on NJDC’s talking points that were distributed to Members of Congress and influential Jewish activists this week. Similar to our talking points, we have an Obama and Israel fact sheet posted on our website at www.njdc.org/obamafacts.

Here’s the beginning of Stein’s article:

Talking points, distributed by one of the nation’s largest Jewish Democratic organizations, seek to improve perceptions of President Barack Obama’s policies on Israel by, in part, painting them as a continuation of former President George W. Bush’s policies.

The Huffington Post obtained a copy of a brief that the National Jewish Democratic Council has sent to Jewish Democrats on the Hill, as well as prominent Jewish activists. In it, the organization stressed Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security, the continued strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s praise for the president.

The most interesting bit comes, however, when NJDC addresses recent Republican critiques of the White House’s position on Israeli settlements: Obama wants a complete freeze on settlement activity including “natural growth” within the settlements. Though it is unusual for the organization to cite Bush favorably, NJDC does just that, arguing that the Obama administration is actually mimicking its predecessor’s approach.

Click here to read the rest…

Comments