Israel Matzav

Shocker: Obama attacked by... Gary Ackerman!?!

This is just about one of the last guys I expected to see attacking Barack Obama. Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) attacked President Obama for his approach to Middle East 'peacemaking.' Here's what Ackerman had to say about President Obama abandoning the quest for a 'settlement freeze.'

“I sincerely hope this decision represents a strategic shift in the Obama administration’s approach to the Middle East,” said Ackerman, of its decision not to push for a deal over extending Israel’s settlement moratorium as a means of restarting direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

“The shift of effort away from the settlements issue, which was and is truly tangential to the future of the region, creates an opportunity to focus on the singular, totally consuming issue in the Middle East, namely stopping Iran’s determined effort to acquire nuclear weapons.”

Ackerman is just about the last person in Congress I'd expect to criticize Obama.

“With the president’s popularity so low – and his limping from the disaster of the midterm elections – Democrats who disagree with his administration’s policies are more emboldened to speak out,” said a Washington Jewish leader who works closely with Congress.

“We’ve seen it this week with the tax compromise, and we are seeing it as well as it relates to the US-Israel relationship.

Democrats who held their tongues when Obama was the most popular man in the world are now speaking their minds.”

“I think as more holes get poked in this administration’s plan for Middle East peace, more people are going to be willing to be critical,” said a congressional staffer to a Democratic member of the House. “Obviously people are less likely to criticize a very powerful administration.”

He said that on settlements, there has always been concern from members. “On the settlements issue, the vast majority of Israel’s supporters in Congress disagreed with the administration’s approach,” he said.

But the staffer also suggested that the new move could alleviate much of the feeling that “the administration has emphasized the issue of settlements too much.”

He also added that Ackerman’s statement isn’t the first time a member of Congress has been willing to speak out against the administration, particularly by the blunt-talking Ackerman.

“Members of Congress, even Obama’s supporters in Congress, have been willing to criticize him when they disagree with the peace process,” the staffer said.

An Ackerman aide said that the congressman chose to issue his policy statement because “he thinks it’s the right thing to do.”

He also pointed out that Ackerman made similar points on Iran before, particularly at an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in July.

And then there are some people who are so addicted to Obama they can't stop defending him.

David Harris of the National Jewish Democratic Council, however, defended the Obama administration’s approach.

“The administration has enough moving parts to keep their eye on the ball of their number one foreign policy priority, which is Iran,” he said.

“Clearly the administration is vigorously pursuing isolating Iran.”

He called it a “fallacy” to think that either the White House’s pursuit of Middle East peace or seeking to end Iran’s nuclear quest had come at the cost of the other.

But Ackerman attacking Obama on Israel has to come as a major surprise. Ackerman was one of Obama's poodles. Apparently, not anymore. Who knows whether he'll be able to get a stooge to run against a real Republican in 2012.

Labels: Barack Obama, Gary Ackerman, Middle East policy

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:00 AM