Top Clinton Aide: “The role of the president of the United States is to support the decisions that are made by the people of Israel.”
On March 18, 2008, a group of Jewish leaders met with aides representing Clinton, Obama and McCain. Kurtzer represented Obama. Anne Lewis represented Clinton. The “correct” message seemed to be belligerence toward Iran, and knee-jerk endorsement of anything Israel does.
“Kurtzer, granted his turn to speak, attempted to argue that ‘on issues relating to Israel, frankly, there aren’t any differences among the three candidates.’ Eagleburger looked at him incredulously; the audience laughed.
Kurtzer attempted to defuse the Wright controversy. ‘For many of you who belong to synagogues and Jewish community centers, as I have all my life, we would not want to be judged by the words of rabbis who sometimes say ridiculous things,’ he reasoned.
The others used their time to raise doubts about Obama’s fealty to Israel. ‘Senator Obama has said that he commits in his first year as president to meeting with President Ahmadinejad of Iran,’ Lewis said. McCain, Eagleburger added, ‘will not talk with the Syrians, will not talk with the Iranians, will not talk with Hamas and Hezbollah. . . . He isn’t going to push the Israelis.’
The skepticism continued through the question time. Daroff said he had ‘heard in the hallways here’ that Obama ‘doesn’t see the U.S.-Israel relationship as much of the mainstream of the Senate or the Jewish community sees it.’
Kurtzer blamed such sentiment on ‘attack dogs’ and writers of scurrilous e-mails. ‘He’s right within the mainstream of American society and Jewish community concerns,’ TBA said.
Next question to Kurtzer: Obama’s assertion that he needn’t have a ‘Likud view’ — that of Israel’s right-wing party — to be pro-Israel. Kurtzer explained that Obama wanted to see a ‘plurality of views.’ Silence in the room.
To that, Lewis retorted: ‘The role of the president of the United States is to support the decisions that are made by the people of Israel. It is not up to us to pick and choose from among the political parties.’ The audience members applauded.”
(Read more from washingpost.com)
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” — Bertrand Russell
[...] roman wrote an interesting post today on Top Clinton Aide: â “The role of the president of the United States …Here’s a quick excerpt ‘Senator Obama has said that he commits in his first year as president to meeting with President Ahmadinejad of Iran,’ Lewis said. McCain, Eagleburger added, ‘will not talk with the Syrians, will not talk with the Iranians, … [...]
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
[...] Clinton adviser, Mickey Kantor, calls Indiana residents “white niggers.” (watch video) -Anne Lewis, another top Clinton adviser, says “The role of the president of the United States … -Taking sniper fire in Bosnia -Her talk of Iran’s “total obliteration.” [...]