Israel Matzav

Israel becomes a big issue in Florida 19

I suppose this was inevitable.

There's a special election in Florida's 19th Congressional district next Tuesday. Florida 19 includes large parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties (I've been there myself - went to a meeting in Boca Raton about ten years ago and have flown out of West Palm Beach's less expensive airport several times), which have large Jewish populations. The district was represented for the last 13 years by Obama confidant Bob Wexler, who resigned in October to head up J Street's 'think tank.' Wexler, to whom I have referred as an Obama kapo, was convinced last July that Israel would say yes to a 'settlement freeze.'

The election pits Democrat Ted Deutch, Republican Ed Lynch and Independent Jim McCormack against each other. Last Thursday, there was a contest in the Orlando Sentinel to see which one was more pro-Israel.

Causes related to Israel were a central part of Democrat Ted Deutch’s civic activities before he was elected to public office.

“I have spent my entire adult life as a leader, as a national leader in the pro-Israel community. I have been to Israel many times. I understand from these visits and from my involvement in the community, the threats that Israel faces,” he said.

“This is something that I care about deeply. That I have for my entire life. I look forward to being a leader on preserving the U.S.-Israel relationship and Israel’s security in Congress, just as I have been a leader on these issues in the community.”

...

Republican Ed Lynch said he’d be far better on Israel than Deutch, who is Jewish.

“Jewish people are able to understand that just because someone’s Jewish does not mean that they have the best interests of Israel in mind and just because someone isn’t Jewish doesn’t mean that they don’t,” he said.

“I’m the only candidate that will stand up and take the tough stance that America needs to take with regards to Israel. I’m the only candidate who will say Israel needs to be able to defend herself. And I’m the only candidate to say with friends like America, Israel doesn’t need any enemies. And we are doing Israel a great injustice,” he said.

“We have countries that threaten to kill Israel, that threaten to kill us, like Iran, and we impose wimpy sanctions on them [and create a] situation where Israel cannot defend herself.”

...

Here’s how Jim McCormick, who is running with no party affiliation, answered the question, Why are you best on the issue of Israel?

“One of the reasons why is although I’m not Jewish, I think that Israel is and always has been and always should be one of our greatest democratic allies. They are in an area that still believes in beheadings and no women’s rights. Here we have this democratic beacon of hope and we should be standing behind them. But at the same time one of our biggest problems is that we have always told them what to do.

“They cannot grow as a nation, mature if we are always standing behind them telling them what to do…. We really do need to step back from them. We really do need to let the rest of the world know, the Middle East know, we will back her financially, militarily should the need be.”

McCormick said the U.S. needs to work harder for sanctions against Iran. “A military option is a long way off. I think we have plenty of diplomatic and economic options, but I think that no option should be taken off the table.”

On Sunday, there was a debate on This Week in South Florida and the Israel issue exploded. Here's part of that debate.

Let's go to the videotape.



Note that what Lynch is defining as 'sanctions against Israel' is the Obama administration's de facto embargo on weapons sales to Israel.

In statements issued by both sides on Monday to the Orlando Sentinel, Deutch pretends that embargo does not exist and instead focuses on Lynch's use of the word 'sanctions.' Here's Deutch:

On the show, Ed Lynch made the appalling claim that the United States has imposed sanctions against Israel and that the sanctions against Israel are greater than those imposed on Iran. These remarks were made just days after Lynch told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that "with friends like America, Israel doesn’t need any enemies." State Senator Ted Deutch released the following statement in reaction to Ed Lynch's outrageous remarks.

"Ed Lynch's repeated disparagement of the relationship between Israel and the United States displays a dangerous level of ignorance on an issue that so many residents of Florida's 19th district care about deeply," said Deutch. "His appalling claim that the United States has imposed sanctions on Israel, sanctions that are tougher than those imposed on Iran, is an affront to so many pro-Israel activists who have worked tirelessly to exert real economic pressure on Ahmadinejad's regime and to sustain the overwhelming bipartisan support for the strongest possible U.S.-Israel relationship, a strategic relationship benefiting both Israel and America.

"I firmly believe that an undivided Jerusalem is and shall remain the capital of the Jewish State of Israel and that the United States should exert pressure on the Palestinians to halt incitement and return to the negotiating table without precondition, just as the Israeli government has. But questioning the commitment of our entire nation to Israel's security by fabricating statements about newly-imposed sanctions shows that Mr. Lynch's interest in Israel's security is political above all else. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has himself come forward to denounce recent political attacks and to reinforce the fact that momentary disagreements of opinion between friends do not threaten the longstanding relationship between our two nations. It is dangerous for my opponent to lead the world to believe that America is now in some way an enemy of the Jewish state. I hope Mr. Lynch will join my longstanding efforts to impose crippling sanctions against Iran in order to prevent the bellicose regime of Ahmadinejad from becoming a nuclear power."

And here's Lynch's response.

Imagine if a foreign government told the United States that we could no longer have building construction in Washington D.C. for either residential or commercial purposes. Making matters worse, the failure to obey such an order would result in the loss of important military contracts for aircraft that were critical to our national security. As arrogant and absurd a power play as this sounds, this is exactly what the Obama Administration has told the Israeli Government, and Senator Ted Deutch's silence on this important matter is telling, signaling his agreement with President Obama.

The Obama administration has continued to single out Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu for diplomatic humiliation while it goes about marginalizing our historic and strategic relationship with Israel at such a critical time. From his Secretary of State's dressing down of Prime Minister Netanyahu, to the President's own disrespectful treatment by refusing to dine with PM Netanyahu while he was his guest in the White House, there is simply no justification for such pettiness and antipathy towards Israel. This conduct comes from a President who as a candidate advertised himself as a person that would talk to any world leader, anytime, and anyplace, supposedly to make our enemies less confrontational and the world more secure. Instead, as President Obama cozies up to thuggish foreign dictators such as Hugo Chavez, he has abandoned Israel and placed it on a par with its mortal enemies such as Iran- simply naïve and unacceptable conduct, displaying an arrogance that is unbefitting of an American President towards a democratic ally.

"While Ted Deutch will 'defend' Israel with mere rhetoric, the person he needs to defend Israel from is his own President that he continues to support. Saying you are a "friend" of Israel has much more to do than being its tourist or boasting that you've met with countless Israeli leaders. Friends tell friends the truth. The truth is that President Obama, the same president Ted Deutch says he supports, is the most anti-Israeli President in this country's history, but Ted will not speak the truth. President Obama's approval rating amongst Israelis is about 5%. Senator Deutch has continued to avoid answering all of the hard questions about Israel throughout the entire campaign, and voters should realize that this evasiveness is both weakness and opportunism- there is already too much of that kind of unprincipled conduct in Congress," said Edward Lynch, candidate for Congress in Florida's 19th Congressional District.

As you may recall, Lynch answered my non-standard questions that are designed to flesh out the extent of a candidate's support for Israel. If Ted Deutch or Jim McCormick wants to answer them, I'd be happy to post the answers. But as far as I can tell, Ed Lynch is the most pro-Israel candidate in Florida 19.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:52 PM