With Jewish Support for
the President Plummeting, Obama Launches
Charm Offensive
Netanyahu invited to White House
Four weeks left to register for Epicenter
Conference in Philadelphia
By
Joel C. Rosenberg
(Washington,
D.C., May 28, 2010) -- President Obama's
support with the American Jewish community
is plunging due to his administration's
hostility towards Israel over the past year.
A full 78% of Americans Jews voted for Obama
in 2008. But now a stunning new poll finds
46% of Jews are actively considering voting
for someone else in 2012. Only 42% say they
would vote to re-elect Obama.
On April 15, Ronald S. Lauder, president of
the World Jewish Congress, sent a letter to
Mr. Obama expressing rarely heard before
public concern by the Jewish community over
the actions of a Democratic President. In
it, he expressed "alarm" over "the dramatic
deterioration of diplomatic relations
between the United States and Israel." He
also publicly criticized the administration
for beginning to turn against Israel, a
longtime friend and strategic ally. "Why
does the thrust of this Administration's
Middle East rhetoric seem to blame Israel
for the lack of movement on peace talks?"
asked Lauder. "After all, it is the
Palestinians, not Israel, who refuse to
negotiate."
The following week, Sen. Chuck Schumer, the
Jewish Democrat from New York, publicly
blasted the Obama administration for it's
"counter-productive" approach towards Israel
and towards Iran.
There are no indications that President
Obama has decided to change his policies. He
still wants to force Israel to divide
Jerusalem. He still wants to force Israel to
give away the strategically critical West
Bank and Jordan Valley to the Palestinians
who still refuse to sit down and negotiate
with Israel face to face. He is still doing
nothing decisive or effective to stop Iran
from getting the Bomb. He still wants to
force Israel not to launch a pre-emptive
strike against Iran's nuclear sites. Most
recently, he has begun trying to force
Israel to disclose and then dismantle its
(thus unacknowledged) defensive nuclear
weapons, which would leave the Jewish State
naked and vulnerable against genocidal
enemies.
That said, the President and his
administration have recently launched a
charm offensive with Israel and the Jewish
community, trying to undo the enormous
damage that has been caused in the
relationship between both countries by the
White House's hostility in recent months.
Examples:
* Next week, President Obama will host Prime
Minister Netanyahu at the White House
* This week, White House chief of staff Rahm
Emanuel took his family to vacation in
Israel and to do a bar mitvah for his son
* Last week, rabbis were wined and dined at
the White House
* Last week, President Obama held an hour
and a half meeting with Jewish Democratic
Members of Congress
LEARN: To track the latest news and trends
from Israel and the epicenter on Joel's
weblog (http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com),
please click here |
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