Israel Matzav

McCain on Israel

FrontPage Magazine.com has an article on John McCain's views on Israel, and it's not pretty. It seems that McCain has suddenly become a Carter-like liberal when it comes to Israel. McCain's choices for Mideast envoys would be James "F*** the Jews - they don't vote for us anyway" Baker and the equally hideous Brent Scowcroft.

FrontPage notes:

McCain’s statements are jarring not only because they reflect the view, long championed by the State Department and both the moderate and liberal wings of the Democratic party, that the U.S. can somehow "micromanage" a fair and equitable Mideast peace (code for unilateral Israeli concessions, since the Palestinians have nothing concrete to concede), but as well for the almost cavalier dismissal of concerns about an interlocutor on the order of a James Baker.

(McCain’s mention of Scowcroft, whose Mideast views and chilly attitude toward Israel are indistinguishable from those usually attributed to Baker, is equally instructive and should serve as one more caveat for McCain supporters in the pro-Israel community.)

Judging from the Mideast-related mishaps of previous high-profile presidential wannabes, the reaction to McCain’s comments would have been far less muted had he made them later in the campaign cycle (the first presidential primaries are still some 20 months away and McCain, as noted by Amir Oren, hasn’t officially declared his candidacy). Time will tell whether his remarks in Haaretz were an aberration or a harbinger.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:35 PM