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Obama is not pro-Israel enough for U.S. advocacy group
(Haaretz) – Emergency Committee for Israel launches billboard and media campaign claiming Obama pressures Israel to ‘apologize to terrorists’ and ‘attacks Israel at the UN’ in run-up to UN vote on Palestinian statehood.
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“Those are the facts. It’s not Obama’s fault that Erdogan is an Islamist or the Palestinians don’t want peace or that a Cairo mob attacked the Israeli embassy – but what is Obama doing about it? What kind of signals does he send to the Middle East when so many of his statements about Israel take the form of criticism? What is he telling Israel’s enemies by his reluctance, in both word and deed, to stand with Israel?”
“We expect more from our president. We expect moral clarity and the defense of American values. Obama’s response has been inadequate and in some cases, such as pressuring Israel to apologize to Turkey, it has been dangerous. We’re beyond the stage of having doubts about Obama’s commitment to Israel. We’re deeply concerned and we want the President to act, and so we’re warning the public,” Pollack added.
Although Pollack talks about facts, several statements seem inaccurate. For instance, the claim that Obama “attacks Israel at the UN” is highly problematic. US Ambassador Susan Rice did criticize Israel over its settlement policy, but only after vetoing the UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements.
The division of Jerusalem claim has a big question mark over it as well. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland did reiterate on Tuesday that the US still expects the negotiations to restart based on the President’s May speech formula, “67 borders with land swaps,” but it avoided going into Jerusalem border questions, as this was supposed to be left to direct negotiations.
The claim that “Obama pressures Israel to apologize to terrorists” (hint, in the wake of the Gaza flotilla incident), sounds shaky after US efforts toward reconciliation between Turkey and Israel, and appeals to Turkey to avoid “provocative rhetoric,”
The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) is a pressure group launched in July 2010 to promote a militarist, “pro-Israel” U.S. agenda. ECI has run attack ads that target politicians deemed “soft” on terrorism and who criticize Israel-centric U.S. policies. It also publishes open letters to political figures and hosts a website that provides information about political races and highlights key issues of concern via-a-vis Israel.
According to its website: “The Emergency Committee for Israel seeks to provide citizens with the facts they need to be sure that their public officials are supporting a strong US-Israel relationship. The Committee’s mission is to educate the public about the serious challenges to Israel’s security and about what elected officials in this country are doing and should do in order to meet those challenges.”[1]
The group’s first act was to run a controversial attack ad in July 2010 targeting the track record of U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), which insinuated that he supported terrorists.[2]
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
