Media Coverage of White House Meeting

Martine Kaplan — July 14, 2009 – 4:08 pm | Israel | Obama Comments (0) Add a comment

After yesterday’s White House meeting with Jewish leaders, NJDC was mentioned in the Associated Press, ABC, Politico, U.S. News and World Report, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Foreign Policy, The Hill, JTA, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Forward and other leading media outlets throughout the country.

The following articles quoted NJDC’s CEO, Ira N. Forman:

Obama meets with Jewish leaders on Israel, Iran, Associated Press  

“No one could leave that meeting with any doubt about Obama’s commitment to Israel,” said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

President Obama to Jewish Leaders: Every Time I’m on Al Jazeera They Show Me at the Western Wall with a Yarmulke On, ABC’s Political Punch

“He talked about Israel as a Jewish state with no hesitancy,” Forman said.  “He also reiterated what he has said before about the fundamental bond between Israel and the United States and the fundamental commitment the US has, no matter what disagreements there are, to Israel’s peace and security.” [...]

The president, Forman said, argued that the media sometimes plays up disagreements between the US and Israel – the US pressuring Arab countries is a “dog bites man” story, the president said—and he assured the participants that he has applied just as much pressure on the Palestinian Authority as he has on Israel in steps towards peace.

U.S. pressing Arabs, closing settlement ‘gaps,’ Obama assures Jewish leaders, Politico

The president “said we have been very specific with the Arab world on incitement, violence, commitments on accepting the reality of Israel and conveying that to their street as well,” said Ira Forman, the executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

Obama Calms Jewish Leaders: Press Has Built Up Conflict, Huffington Post

[A]ccording to Ira Forman, head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, the president hit all the right notes during Monday’s meeting.

“You could tell in that room that this is a president with great popularity in the Jewish community,” Forman, who attended the event, told the Huffington Post. “People obviously asked questions about Israel. But it was a very comfortable audience. I sensed no tension whatsoever.” [...]

According to Forman, the president acknowledged that crafting a peace process was incredibly difficult, complicated by a host of political pressures: “I had no sense that he felt we could sit around campfires and sing Kumbayah.” [...] “He was very explicit that this was not just Israel’s responsibility,” said Forman.

Perhaps the most interesting bit of the talk came when Obama discussed the coverage his Israel policies have received domestically. He was not whining, said Forman, because the president understood that it was the “nature of the beast.” But he conveyed that the press had “played up a disagreement on the settlements,” when the White House had “been at least as demanding on Israel and the Arab world.”

At White House, U.S. Jews offer little resistance to Obama policy on settlements, JTA  

“The comfort level was magnificent; there were no notes,” said Ira Forman

Jewish Leaders Meet With Obama, Tablet Magazine  

Ira Forman, the executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council as commenting that Obama “said we have been very specific with the Arab world on incitement, violence, commitments on accepting the reality of Israel and conveying that to their street as well.”

Obama to U.S. Jewish leaders: Israel must engage in self-reflection, Haaretz  

Ira Forman, CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told ABC News that Obama said the media sometimes plays up disagreements between the US and Israel.  The U.S. pressuring Arab countries is a “dog bites man” story, he quoted the president as saying, adding that Obama assured the participants that he has applied just as much pressure on the Palestinian Authority as he has on Israel in steps towards peace.

Obama: U.S. Not Seeking Fight With Israel Over Settlements, Forward

Ira Forman of the National Jewish Democratic Council chose more colorful terms to describe the event. “It was a room full of friends,” he said. “At the end of the meeting everyone was glowing.”

The following articles mentioned NJDC: U.S. News and World Report, Washington Post/Newsweek, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Politics Daily, Beliefnet, JTA, and The Jerusalem Post

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