Jerusalem Report Article Examines Obama’s Record on Israel

Jordan Rohde — August 18, 2011 – 3:46 pm | Foreign Policy | Israel | Obama | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Jan Jaben-Eilon of the The Jerusalem Report published an extensive piece that examined President Barack Obama’s record of support for Israel along with the effort by certain Republicans to make support for Israel a partisan wedge issue. Below are some highlights. The full article can be read here.

Jaben-Eilon emphasized the Obama Administration’s record-breaking levels of military and diplomatic support for Israel:

[T]he current administration has given stronger support for Israel’s security than previous administrations - even agreeing to provide the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that the Bush administration had refused. And Obama has supported Israel in the UN as well, including its veto against the UN resolution condemning Israel’s settlement policy, even though that resolution was consistent with US policy since the 1967 War.

Former Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL) expounded on Obama’s pro-Israel accomplishments:

[T]he ‘notion that Obama doesn’t have the requisite pro-Israel credentials is patently false and defies dozens of examples where the president acted in the truest of pro- Israel ways. Obama has single-handedly raised American-Israel security ties to unprecedented levels.’

He checks off the list, noting that when Turkey disinvited the Israeli military from participating in a military exercise, the US pulled out its participation. After that, the US sent the largest American-uniformed contingent to the port of Haifa for a military exercise with Israel. Also on Wexler’s list are the $250 million in US support for the Iron Dome missile defense program and the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called every European foreign minister to encourage them to accept Israel as a member in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Wexler also pushed back against certain Republicans’—including many presidential candidates—attempts to play partisan games with support for Israel:

‘[F]or those of us who cherish the State of Israel, we would never dare to introduce a sense of partisanship in terms of Israel.’ His voice hardening into anger, he continues, ‘For an individual to stoke partisanship means that for that individual, Israel is a political issue rather than a deeply- felt attachment. True friends of Israel would never want one party or another to get the upper hand on Israel; support for Israel should be shared by Republicans and Democrats.’

 ‘When an otherwise responsible man… makes a declaration riddled with misstatements and is patently false about the president’s policies, then you have to ask, ‘Does he care about Israel or have some political motive?’ Israel is not a political ploy. The longevity of the Jewish State is not a political football between Democrats and Republicans,’ he says.

She also reported:

David A. Harris, President and CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, initially tells The Report that he was caught by surprise at the immediate ‘ferocity of the misinformation campaign from the right,’ but then quickly corrects himself and says, ‘I’m actually not surprised…What does surprise me is the willingness to engage in it knowing how much damage it can do to Israeli policy.

There’s a danger that they could damage bipartisan support for Israel. In contrast, we’d never question the pro-Israel bona fides of Republicans.’

Jaben-Eilon also wrote about Democratic National Committee Chair and Representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s (D-FL) effort to keep Israel from becoming a partisan wedge issue—and the Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director’s confrontational response:

[She] asked Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, to agree to not make support for Israel an issue in the already bubbling 2012 election. Brooks refused and accused Wasserman Schultz of proposing ‘a gag order.’

She explained that despite Republican’s tireless attempts to demonize President Obama, Jewish Americans continue to overwhelming support the Obama Administration:

Furthermore, the Gallup poll reveals that American Jews still strongly support Obama in greater numbers than US adults overall and that there was no significant change in Obama’s Jewish support following Obama’s Middle East policy speech and the subsequent flare-ups between Netanyahu and Obama. A recent Pew Research Center poll finds that Americans in general perceive the Obama Administration to have a fundamentally positive approach to Israel, but there was no breakdown for Jewish voters. Moreover, an early July survey of American Jews initiated by the progressive J Street lobbying group shows Obama the clear favorite against every possible Republican presidential contender.

In response to myths about Jews increasingly becoming Republican, Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) said:

[The GOP] has made a ‘hard right turn with guns blazing. That is not something that will be missed by American Jewish voters. I believe American Jews tend to vote for the Democratic Party not simply because of the party’s strong support for Israel, beginning with [former president Harry] Truman, but because its values and policies are in line with those of the American Jewish community.’

Jaben-Eilon’s piece clearly explains the Obama Administration’s unwavering support for Israel and exposes the irresponsible attempts by certain Republicans to politicize the U.S.-Israel relationship. Click here to read her full article.

Comments

There are no comments for this entry