Israel Matzav

'Israelis saw it coming before American Jews' #ivoteIsrael

JPost chief diplomatic correspondent Gil Hoffman had a chat with Ari Fleischer and Matt Brooks on Tuesday. A few comments.

They cited polls in the Post going back to June 2009, which found that only a small percentage of Israelis considered the Obama administration more pro- Israel than pro-Palestinian.

“The polls in The Jerusalem Post reverberated around the Jewish community in America,” Fleischer said. “They were an early warning signal in the US that there were cracks in Obama’s armor. In 2009 American Jews were so pro-Obama. Israelis saw the cracks first, and now the American Jewish community is going through a significant case of buyer’s remorse.”

Actually, Israelis saw the cracks even before the election. As was pointed out in the data presented by Yehuda Solomont on Tuesday - before Fleischer and Brooks arrived - two thirds of American Jews in Israel voted for John McCain over Obama in 2008, about the same percentage who said they would vote for 'the Republican candidate' (before it became obvious that would be Romney) over Obama in 2012.

But I believe that American Jews who had their eyes open were also suspicious. I think that many of them gave Obama a pass because they didn't think he could possibly be as bad for Israel as people like me warned as far back as early 2007, and they saw him as being much 'better' on social and economic issues. Solomont pointed out that 66% of American Jews living in Israel make Israel their number one priority when voting in US elections - a far higher percentage than is the case with US Jews who still reside in the US. Moreover, as Fleischer and Brooks admitted in the bloggers' session yesterday, Republicans make inroads into the Jewish community among Jews who prioritize national security and foreign policy. But US Jews who have other priorities may still appreciate that Obama was 'less good' for Israel than McCain was or Romney would be.

Still the percentage of US Jews supporting Obama is eroding and that's because his positions are so anti-Israel it has forced American Jewry to stand up and take notice.

I was amused to see this morning that I was linked by a woman named Allison Deeger who writes for Mondoweiss. Let's pick on a couple of inaccuracies....

Tomorrow, Brooks and Fleischer will reconvene again for another event in an Anglo immigrant neighborhood nestled west of the Green Line in Modi'im.

If you got the impression that Modiin is over the green line... you're wrong. Of the three towns on the map that's linked there only Maccabim is over the green line. Maybe Ms. Deeger also believes that '1948 territory' is 'occupied.' Just like Hamas.

I Vote Israel's next event, "Who should I vote for? Who's good for the Jews? Who's good for Israel?" will take place at the end of this month when extremist Gush Emunim follower Marc Zell will debate political scientist Dr. David Luchins. Zell currently lives in the West Bank outpost of Alon Shevu, which he says is "like a small town in Iowa."

As it happens, I know both Marc Zell and David Luchins. And I spent a year living in Alon Shvut, which is definitely not an 'outpost' (Jews returned to there in 1968 after being expelled from there by the Arab Legion in 1948). Marc is not what one commonly calls an 'extremist' unless one believes that anyone who supports Israel is an extremist. And I would be surprised to hear David (whom I have known for about 40 years) call unequivocally for everyone to vote for Obama even if in the past he has been very much in the Democrats' court.

Finally, one of the commenters at Mondoweiss writes,

” Voting should be left to real Americans” Now that was a true statement. Talk about some foreign influence.

That's an issue that was discussed at the bloggers' event, because there were people who felt that we don't live in the US anymore and that therefore we shouldn't vote. The response to that is that we are still legally obligated to file US tax returns every year (and as I may have mentioned, I was audited by the IRS just a few months ago), and so long as we are so obligated, we are certainly entitled to vote. The Colonists rebelled against Britain due to taxation without representation, and would not have expected us to file tax returns or pay taxes without the right to vote.

Labels: Ari Fleischer, Campaign 2012, Republican Jewish Coalition

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:11 AM