The radical wolves in sheeps' clothing at J Street are claiming a victory in the confirmation of the anti-Semitic
Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
In the week when the most influential
Jewish-American group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee,
held its annual conference in Washington, J Street has been touting its
role in securing Hagel's nomination, which supporters say shows its
growing clout.
J Street president
Jeremy Ben-Ami said he called Hagel in December as soon as he heard
rumors that President Barack Obama wanted the former Republican senator
to be his secretary of defense.
It
was weeks before the nomination became public, but it took only a day
for the group to issue its first statement supporting Hagel, who would
endure attacks from groups such as the hawkish Republican-linked
Emergency Committee for Israel.
Hagel was heavily criticized for saying in a 2006 interview that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people" in Congress.
"I called and said, 'Do you realize you need a defense?'" Ben-Ami said.
"I
just sensed right away that this was going to be very serious, and
people are going to seize on one word, one phrase and they are going to
take it and extrapolate it out and make it a blanket smear," Ben-Ami
said.
What a load of crap. This is a far more accurate assessment.
"I can easily picture that J Street is
spinning (Hagel's confirmation) as a demonstration of their new
influence because they've been desperately trying to convince people of
their influence ever since they came on the block. But I'm very
skeptical," said Joshua Muravchik, a fellow at Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies and a well-known neo-conservative foreign
policy commentator.
Hagel's
confirmation, he said, was due more to Obama's clout after just being
re-elected and the Israeli government's decision not to get involved.
And the fact that the Democrats have all the courage of a deer in the headlights when it comes to opposing anything Obama wants. Right Chuck Schumer?
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