By Salomon Kalach
Senator Obama has been campaigning in Florida meeting with Jewish communities to convince them of his genuine support for Jews and Israel. It’s not an easy job. Misinformation and stereotypes have hardened and it will be an uphill battle, especially now that the Democratic party is still divided with the nominating contest still in progress.
But the battle becomes more than unfair when groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition cross the line and start using spin to scare people from sticking to their traditional political party. It definitely crosses the line when they use Israel in order to snatch away some Jews, especially when all three candidates are strong supporters of Israel. It crosses the line when President Bush addresses the Israeli Knesset and hints, not so subtly, that Obama is an appeaser. (Right, I forgot how his cowboy foreign policy of “with us or against us” has been really successful in creating a safer world and making the U.S. be more respected around the world.)
Can these groups really not come up with any other reason why Republican nominee John McCain would be a better president without bringing up Israel? Is their only hope scaring people away from the democratic party by tapping into one of the most sensitive corners of the Jewish psyche? If that’s the case, that is pretty telling.
But well, since they do want to focus on Israel, I decided to contribute my two cents by fighting back and trying to convince people why Obama not only poses no danger to Israel but could also be great. I wrote an op-ed on the Jerusalem Post on the issue (click here to read it). You can also read Obama’s interview with Jeffrey Goldberg here.
