Posted on 07/01/2009 9:45:29 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Many American supporters of Israel who voted for Barack Obama now suspect they may have been victims of a bait and switch. Jewish Americans voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama over John McCain in part because the Obama campaign went to great lengths to assure these voters that a President Obama would be supportive of Israel. This despite his friendships with rabidly anti-Israel characters like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and historian Rashid Khalidi.
At the suggestion of Mr. Obama's Jewish supporters -- including me -- the candidate visited the beleaguered town of Sderot, which had borne the brunt of thousands of rocket attacks by Hamas. Standing in front of the rocket shells, Mr. Obama declared: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." This heartfelt statement sealed the deal for many supporters of Israel.
Now, some of them apparently have voters' remorse. According to Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, "President Obama's strongest supporters among Jewish leaders are deeply troubled by his recent Middle East initiatives, and some are questioning what he really believes." I hear the same thing from rank-and-file supporters of Israel who voted for Mr. Obama.
Are these fears justified? Rhetorically, the Obama team has definitely taken a harsher approach toward Israel compared to its tone during the campaign.
If the Obama administration were to shift toward learning to live with a nuclear Iran and attempt to deny Israel the painful option of attacking its nuclear targets as a last resort, that would be troubling indeed.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I'm thinking this writer knows this is already the case, and is panicking at his own complicity in getting this guy elected
Jewish support of the party that hates Israel remains one of life’s great mysteries for me.
MM
Many American supporters of Israel who voted for Barack Obama now suspect they may have been victims of a bait and switch. Jewish Americans voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama over John McCain in part because the Obama campaign went to great lengths to assure these voters that a President Obama would be supportive of Israel. This despite his friendships with rabidly anti-Israel characters like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and historian Rashid Khalidi.
American Jews are Day late, dollar short :(
“I’m thinking this writer knows this is already the case, and is panicking at his own complicity in getting this guy elected “
I’m thinking you are dead on the mark!
Sorry, Alan. He can't "turn" on them if he was never on their side.....
Were they really that naive? I’m speechless at the total stupidity of the question, but if any of them are reading this let me be the first to assure them: You’ve been had!
All of my Jewish friends voted for Obama, and to be honest I don’t see any buyer’s remorse at all. I keep hearing this talk that many American Jews simply do not care about Israel. Perhaps they are right.
By the way Mount Athos, I like your screen name!
Obama was never on the side of Israel. He weakly campaigned that he was and all the good dems believed him. He sides with the Pali’s as does the Rev. Wright, Farakan and many others of that ilk.
The Israelis know this, but American jews haven’t figured it out yet.
Yeah.. Obama would be a staunch supporter of Israel.. as opposed to ? As opposed to McCain who would be a staunch supporter of -- Hamas ?? OK, and what was the other part they supported Obama for ? Make no mistake. The "other" part is the only part they voted for Obama. Jewish liberals don't give a rat's hiney about Israel.
Suckers!
Alan, the President is a leftist. Or, as you say, a progressive. We thought you knew this.
Voter’s remorse indeed. Zero’s supporters, for the most part, still support him. I repeatedly told all my Lib friends, Jewish and otherwise, the guy is a pathological liar. They are STILL in denial.
‘The Israelis know this, but American jews haven’t figured it out yet.’
Too true. American Jews have become quite secular in their views (odd thing to say, I know). They give all the appearance of being an ethnic group that is quite detached from their historic roots and, I fear, their own religion.
Given this “disconnect”, it is easy to see their disinterest in the state of Israel. A group that has no affinity (and indeed, a disinterest in the State of Israel) can hardly be considered to be Jewish. It is a reflexively determined identity that has no connection with their own religion, which accounts for viewing themselves as being only distantly related by blood, and not religion or philosophy.
These are not the kind of people that I would care to share a trench with on the Golan.
This is exactly my experience. I really don't think mainstream, secular, self-identified Jewish Americans care all that much about Israel. They appear more Marxist to me than anything else. Their support for Obama then is natural.
We have a lot of mental illness among the tribe. Called communism and liberalism. Even the truth is often not enough of a medicine to cure them. Just look at Dershowitz’s schizophrenic view of Obie.
If O diminishes the security of Israel, and the end goal of Israel’s enemies is another genocidal holocaust, what else would Desh need to wake him up? A mushroom-shaped cloud over what was Tel Aviv?
Some people only take their head out of their a*s long enough to get a breath of air. They suffer from oxygen-deprivation and thus suffer brain-damage.
I’m a conservative Jew and don’t believe you hurt your friends and aid your enemies. Only fools with a deathwish do that, and we have too many fools amongst us.
yitbos
I believe there is a logical compromise on settlement growth that has been proposed by Yousef Munayyer, a leader of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination League. "Obama should make it clear to the Israelis that settlers should feel free to grow their families as long as their settlements grow vertically, and not horizontally," he wrote last month in the Boston Globe. In other words, build "up" rather than "out." This seems fair to both sides,
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That sounds like something a Lewis Carroll character would propose. You KNOW that is completely idiotic...
They are Jewish only from the standpoint of their ethnic heritage. Otherwise their real god & religion is left-wing socialist-fascism-communist ideology. I have always said that left-wing ideology trumps everything else for liberals & socialists. It trumps religion (ie. Catholics & so called evangelicals voting for pro-abortion demoRATs & 0boooooomba), it trumps ethnic heritage (Jews voting for demoRATs & 0booooomba who are always pro-palestinian & against Israel), it trumps family & blood ties. Left-wing ideology is the religion for liberals & socialists and they will always vote their ideology over anything else. As Michael Savage penned his book, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.
not as if we didnt warn them in big bold brass letters like “Do not trust this man, trust him at your peril, he is a liar , a cheat and a fraud”.
You get what you voted for and you’ll pay for it, we all will. Next time just remember, if it quacks like a duck, its a fooking duck.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.