MJ Rosenberg hysterically insists that he’s pro-Israel, presumably because Mommy and Daddy told him he could be anything he wanted and that’s what he chose. This is the same supple mind that describes pre-1967 Israel – when Jews were barred from their ancient holy places, were routinely murdered by terrorists, and were under the constant threat of mass genocide – as “pretty wonderful.”
Since Obama’s July 13th meeting with American Jewish leaders was kind of a disaster – condescending lectures about how Israel needs to “engage in serious self-reflection” will do that – Rosenberg needs to distract people from how Obama’s Jewish supporters are increasingly admitting they made a mistake. Problem: Obama’s Jewish supporters are increasingly admitting they made a mistake. Solution: unblinking denial:
At the president’s meeting with Jewish leaders at the White House on July 13, Obama heard virtually no criticism of his policy on settlements. Even the more conservative Jewish groups held their tongues. The only exception came when one participant urged the president not to change his policy but to keep his differences with Israel private… There are numerous reasons why the Jewish community is not rushing to Netanyahu’s defense… On the Israel issue, the only domestic constituency that matters is the Jewish community and, thus far, it is supporting Obama — not Netanyahu — on the settlements issue and the peace process. That should be no surprise, given that most Jews are Democrats and 78 percent of them voted for Obama over McCain.
Rosenberg spends the rest of the article haughtily sneering about how Netanyahu is reaching out to evangelicals, at least partly to remind liberal Jews whose side they’re supposed to be on. He goes on and on about how Christians are on Bibi’s side and American Jews are on his side. You can almost feel Rosenberg’s long-denied pleasure that somebody in the Jewish community finally likes him. If only the other kids had paid attention to him on the Hebrew School playground instead of forcing him to pretend that he wanted to sit alone and study for his Bar Mitzvah.
Anyway, that’s not how I heard the meeting went down. But then again I only know someone who knows someone who was there. I wasn’t actually in the room like Rosenberg was. Although he’s right that the meeting wasn’t as heated as it might have been. Because you know who else wasn’t in the room? Conservative pro-Israel organizations:
U.S. President Barack Obama, worried over increasing criticism from Jewish supporters because of soft talk on Iran and a tough stance against Jews in Judea and Samaria, has invited Jewish leaders for a talk Monday. Among those attending is the strongly dovish J Street lobby. The president excluded the strongly nationalist National Council of Young Israel (YI) and Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), sources told Israel National News.
Yup. These tools went out of their way to exclude the pro-Israel voices most inclined to disagree with them, then they trotted out this overinflated toady to brag about how nobody vocally disagreed with them. All in the interest of giving liberal Jews the excuses they need to continue wallowing in their party identity.
Of course there are personal issues at play too. But someone needs to tell MJ that just because he believed that the American Jewish community could be won if the US picked a public fight over settlements and just because he told Obama that the American Jewish community could be won if the US picked a public fight over settlements – that doesn’t make it true. Even if you wish really really hard!
Oh, and just for the record. That oh-so-wry line that Obama dropped in the meeting about how Al Jazeera always shows him in a yarmulke – also total crap.
References:
* Pro-Obama Jewish Groups: The Pre-1967 Arab Stranglehold On Israel Was “Pretty Wonderful” [MR]
* Obama: Israel Must “Engage In Serious Self-Reflection” [MR]
* Obama’s Chutzpah. Sorry, Only Israelis Have Chutzpah. So It’s Obama’s Haughty Condescension. [Peretz]
* Playing the Jesus Card [Rosenberg]
* Pro-Obama Jewish Activist: Jews Only Vote For Anti-Israel Democrats Because Evangelicals Force Them To Or Something [MR]
* Obama Reaches Out to Jews, Excludes Pro-Yesha Zionists [A7]
* Social Science Confirms: Sheer Stupidity Only Explanation For Democratic Jews (Plus: Joe The Plumber Agrees: “A Vote For Obama Is A Vote For The Death Of Israel”) [MR]
* Al Jazeera responds to Obama on the yarmulke issue [FP Passport]
Previously:
* Israeli Officials: Hey, It’s Almost As If Obama’s Trying To Detonate The US-Israeli Relationship
* Pro-Obama Jewish Group’s Anti-RJC Smears Are Asinine, False
