Fri, Jul 04, 2008

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mhpine


Its wrong to conflate these issues.

Its absurd to tar Obama as an anti-Semite because his pastor is willing to overlook Farrakhan's anti-Semitism. However, it is wholly legitimate to inquire into the views of any presidential candidate's foreign policy team.   

There are two camps in the foreign policy establishment that support an "even-handed" approach that would involve putting greater pressure on Israel.  Realists (like Brzezinski and James Baker) do so out of a cynical calculation that it wlll enhance U.S. bargaining position with our Saudi "allies."  Certain Liberal Internationalists believe that Israeli obstinacy is the key stumbling block to a 2-state solution. People in both camps have been associated with the Obama campaign. 

(As a point of fairness, many of the architects of the U.S. botched handling of Oslo, including the policy of forcing Israel to negotiate under fire at Taba, are affiliated with Clinton.)

If  you are a Meretznik that thinks Israel needs "tough love" from the U.S., you are wholly unperturbed by the presence of such advisers in a future administration.  If you have views anywhere to the right of that, you might find such views troubling. 

Obama has a solid pro-Israel record in the Senate  and his detailed statements in Cleveland last Sunday seem thought through and reasonable.  His support for sanctions against Iran is comforting but his response to the N.I.E. was problematic. Obama can't be given a pass on Israel simply because right-wing racist Jews wield it as a weapon against him.





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