PrintOctober 22, 2008
Obama and the Jews
Gabriel Schoenfeld of Commentary Magazine (who also writes, at times, for the Wall Street Journal) has a superb article in today's New York Post regarding Barack Obama and his relationship with the Jewish community.
Schoenfeld focuses not just on Barack Obama's views regarding the conflict in the Middle East but also an all too often ignored issue: the views towards American Jews and their ability to express their views. Many people who surround Barack Obama seem to have a bit of antipathy towards the freedom American Jews enjoy to express these views.
Schoenfeld focuses not just on Barack Obama's views regarding the conflict in the Middle East but also an all too often ignored issue: the views towards American Jews and their ability to express their views. Many people who surround Barack Obama seem to have a bit of antipathy towards the freedom American Jews enjoy to express these views.
He identifies some of these people (see below) but leaves off a few others.
Samantha Power is probably the greatest risk. She has said she will return to hold a high office in an Obama administration, She was his closest foreign policy adviser until forced to "resign" in the wake of calling Hillary Clinton a monster. This resignation was meaningless. She never left her job at the Kennedy School of Government (home of Stephen Walt, co-author of the Israel Lobby book). Power has spoken of domestic interest groups with great financial power having too much influence in the foreign policy debate in America, has advocated terminating all aid to Israel and giving it to "Palestine", has spoken derisively of Israelis (as a group, not individual Israelis) and has talked about how discussions all too often revolve around "What is good for the Jews".
Of course, George Soros (who has expressed opposition to the so-called Israel Lobby and support for Mearsheimer and Walt) and J Street, both with links to Barack Obama, are also concerns. Soros was an early financial supporter of Barack Obama's, has tapped his wealthy group to help fund Senator Obama, and has used his 'empire" of 527 groups to work to help have him elected.
Soros has strong ties with the J Street people, by the way. Not only has he funded people like Eli Pariser who play key roles in the J Street coalition but J Street has Mort Halperin-Soros's major domo-on its board of directors. He served as the Open Society's (Soros's major organization) Policy Center Executive Director and was the director of US Advocacy.
Daniel Kurtzer, a Middle East adviser, has also spoken out against domestic interest groups and the foreign policy debate.
Obama has tapped Chuck Hagel as being a man he is likely to appoint as Secretary of Defense. This is a great cause of concern. He is probably the Senator who has the greatest dislike of Israel and he, too, has spoken quite harshly about the-in his words-"Jewish Lobby" which he has said does "dumb things" He is quite popular as a speaker before Arab American groups where he probably trots out his stump phrase that "support for Israel should not be "automatic." More on Hagel and the implications of his being appointed Secretary of Defense
Just yesterday, the ABA Journal picked lawyers likely to staff the White House if Barack wins. The magaizne thinks Mark Brzezinski wll be tapped as National Security adviser. He has written op-eds that may be fairly seen as offering, at best, lukewarm support for the American-Israel relationship. He is the son of Zbigniew Brezinski who is a fierce critic, as Schoenfeld notes, of Israel and the "Israel Lobby" in America.
I could continue...
