Israel Matzav

If he's lost the Tel Aviv coffee shop crowd, he's lost the country

It's become stylish recently to suggest that President Obama should come to Israel and speak directly to Israelis. Martin Indyk, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz, among others, have suggested it in the past couple of weeks. But the first person to suggest it publicly - the very first - was Aluf Benn, the Haaretz editor. Benn wrote an op-ed in the New York Times last July suggesting that Obama had to something about his popularity in Israel, and why doesn't he come to Israel and speak directly to Israelis. At the time, Benn was lambasted by Marc Stanley of the National Jewish Democratic Council, in an op-ed that appeared in the JPost, which accused Benn of being part of the anti-Obama wing of the Jewish community, and claimed he had chutzpa for criticizing Obama.

This afternoon, I had an SMS from a JPost intern who reads my blog. "I'll be seeing Aluf Benn, editor of Haaretz tonight," he wrote. "I will get the chance to ask him a question or two; anything you'd particularly like to hear him answer?" I suggested asking him whether he still believed that Obama speaking directly to Israelis would make a difference in how he's perceived in Israel. Here's Benn's answer:

It’s great that you mentioned the date. It’s been 9 months, but i could still print it today or tomorrow. He [obama] missed one point. Israel. he went all around the world, speaking to different leaders, but not here. yes, I stand by it.

I was sitting in tel aviv one saturday morning in cofee shop a couple of weeks ago. I was surrounded by secular israelis, the most open-minded types. but when the conversation turns to him, they say "we can't trust him." even the most secular. in tel aviv. if he can't gain their support, how is he to gain the israeli public's support?

I don't know whether President Obama's approval ratings would improve if he came here, and I don't know whether he would suddenly be able to convince Israelis to take more 'risks for peace' if he came here. But I can tell you that if the secular Tel Aviv coffee shop crowd doesn't trust him, no one here does, and those polls you are hearing with single digit approval for Obama among Israeli Jews are quite accurate. He may not gain anything by coming here, but he has no hope of accomplishing anything without coming here.

UPDATE 7:41 AM

During the night, I had an email from someone who is very well-connected in Washington, who told me that a prominent Jewish leader cautioned Obama against going to Israel, because the trip would be a disaster and he would be walking into the lions' den.

Kind of like Bibi going to the White House in March I guess....

UPDATE 2:43 PM

The person who sent me the SMS yesterday is no longer anonymous and he is no longer at JPost. You can find his post here.

I also understand that the panel on which Aluf Benn sat on Wednesday night took place at Hebrew University and was sponsored by StandWithUs.org.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:12 AM