When Israel stars in U.S. campaigns – is it good for the Jews?

[shaayecanaan]

from Haaretz:-

Delaware Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnel, who has been at the center of much recent media focus, said in an interview with Fox that the U.S. has to "rebuild and repair our relationship with Israel."

"Israel deserves our respect. They've been an ally. Obama scolded them. You don't scold one of our allies for doing what they need to do in their own national interest. We can do more because we need Israel," she added.

This is just a small example of how Israel is present even in races in which there is no particular reason to mention it.

The Republican Jewish Coalition attacked several candidates for Senate for their alleged anti-Israeli stance with ads such as "When Israel needed her most, Barbara Boxer was silent" in California, "Alexi Giannoulias: troubling pattern of funding anti-Israeli groups" in Illinois, "When it comes to supporting Israel, Joe Sestak is a big problem" or a video claiming that "Sestak told Obama to pressure Israel" in Pennsylvania. The RJC spent over $1 million dollars on a single ad campaign against Sestak. Some of the ads running in Ohio, Nevada, Washington and Missouri linked Obama's agenda to the democratic candidates' disastrous potential to harm the Jewish "mishpaha" or family.

The non-Jewish Emergency Committee for Israel, established this summer, runs ads of its own, focusing, among other things, on "Gaza 54" - a letter signed by members of Congress calling on President Obama to work to ease the blockade on Gaza.

Israel is not too happy about this tendency. "Israel has become a partisan issue in the U.S., and this political Ping-Pong is bad for us," Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michal Oren said to Haaretz.

David A. Harris, President and CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, says that "ECI and other far-right organizations are sadly transforming the U.S.-Israel relationship into a partisan wedge issue, through distortions and outright lies, as demonstrated by mainstream American media. It's a nasty game, and beyond targeting pro-Israel Democrats, the real victim is the historic, bipartisan U.S.-Israel relationship that is truly essential. These groups see a short-term political gain by playing this dangerous game, but they are tragically missing the damage they are doing to the U.S.-Israel relationship in the process. We refuse to play this game; we will not turn Israel into a political football."

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/focus-u-s-a/when-israel-stars-in-u-s-campaigns-is-it-good-for-the-jews-1.320883

*****************************

Interesting article. I heard a lobbyist say once:- "Its a good thing to have other people pushing your cart for you. But the bad thing is sometimes they don't stop pushing even when you do"

[Pirate Smile]

1. It seems like you have to act like a Right-winger or else you don't support Israel.

It's bizarre.

I don't like the friggin RW'ers in the US and I sure as hell don't like them in Israel either - yet it now seems like they are supposed to just get an automatic pass. I don't think so. It isn't exactly endearing to hear about how much they hate Obama either.

[applegrove]

2. More neocon bullsh**. If you think for yourself then you get bullied.

[Pirate Smile]

4. True. It sucks that the media, as usual, buys into the neocon narrative and just spews it back out

instead of calling it out. You would hope (ha) they would have learned from the neocon lies used to sell the Iraq War.

[aquart]

3. "Good for the Jews"?

Looking for an excuse for a pogrom?

[azurnoir]

5. your outrage is misplaced it is the title of the article

which as you should be aware must be posted exactly as written by I/P forum rules

[LeftishBrit]

6. I really doubt...

that the National Jewish Democratic Council is looking for a pogrom.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Good points

The American Right, and especially the Christian Zionists, frequently use Jews and Israelis as pawns, not friends.

[ishaneferguson]

15. Toomey and Fiorina

I "commute" between Pennsylvania and California, and Pat Toomey's "outreach" ads to the Jewish voters and Carly Fiorina's "outreach" ads to the Jewish voters both make we want to puke.

Their ads press Israel's defense solely-- with a background in the Toomey-Fiorina campaigns to repeal health care reform, to limit LGBT rights, to cut pre-K to post-doc education, to move backward on energy, to "balance the budget" on the backs of social program clients. etc.

The GOP is just trying to hide its own Tea Party - radical right agenda.

[azurnoir]

8. Is this good for anyone?

Israel is far from topping the agenda of Jewish American voters as well: in a recent AJC poll, 87 percent defined unemployment as a significant issue, 80 percent mentioned healthcare – compared with 61 percent who mentioned Israel. However, in several races, Israel was injected aggressively into the election campaigns.

but even though that is what appears to be fact

The Republican Jewish Coalition attacked several candidates for Senate for their alleged anti-Israeli stance with ads such as "When Israel needed her most, Barbara Boxer was silent" in California, "Alexi Giannoulias: troubling pattern of funding anti-Israeli groups" in Illinois, "When it comes to supporting Israel, Joe Sestak is a big problem" or a video claiming that "Sestak told Obama to pressure Israel" in Pennsylvania. The RJC spent over $1 million dollars on a single ad campaign against Sestak. Some of the ads running in Ohio, Nevada, Washington and Missouri linked Obama's agenda to the democratic candidates' disastrous potential to harm the Jewish "mishpaha" or family.

and then we have Eric Cantor the supposed poster boy for smaller government wanting to create a whole new government office that is charged primarily with funneling money to Israel?

I think Jewish voters are intelligent enough to see the implied antisemitism in Republicans trying to win their votes somehow by making Israel America's special pet

[shaayecanaan]

9. It will be interesting to see where all this goes...

Both parties want to cut the deficit but neither of them have the cojones to touch Medicare/Medicaid, social security or the military, which is what they will need to do. They could get 1% of the deficit back from the foreign aid budget by cutting Israel and Egypt, but it doesnt seem that that will happen either.

At some stage the deficit is going to have to come down, the only question is when and how.

[azurnoir]

10. when you total up all of the $$$$$$$$$$$$$ being spent on

campaigning and lobbying maybe someone should suggest there is a better and much needed use for that money

as to the deficit the Republicans will most certainly touch Medicare/mediaide and Social Security and any other program they can get at that is their MO but not the military and the Dems IMO will touch any and all of them

[shaayecanaan]

11. the Dems haven't touched any of them so far...

even a blatantly necessary reform such as allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of drugs was stymied by the pharma lobby.

[azurnoir]

12. True enough but in the past when the pressure

and need for votes was on they have, it was a Dem namely Bill Clinton that instituted so called "welfare reform" which in the long run has only deepened poverty and closed doors to ways of leaving it mostly via education

[shaayecanaan]

13. You can put that down to Ross Perot, though...

although I do give credit to Clinton for knocking down the deficit. He also knocked the military budget down a dram or two.

[azurnoir]

14. Not Perot the "reform" happened in '96 even though he ran

he was a "has been" by then and he tended to draw off Republican voters more than Democrats, he may have slightly affected the passage of NAFTA but "welfare reform" was all about beating Republicans IMO

[Dick Dastardly]

16. Actually to give some credit where some credit is due. Bush Sr started

knocking the military budget down some. As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union there were many weapon systems that he downsized or cancelled due to the threat they were designed for disapearing. Unfortunatly his spawn from a drunken night when he made sweet love with a chimpanzee, reversed his and Clintons military cuts.