Ori Nir reports in today’s Forward that “Jewish community leaders have urged the White House to refrain from publicly pledging to defend Israel against possible Iranian hostilities:”
Messages were passed to the White House through several channels, Jewish activists said. And it seems to have worked: Speaking before the annual conference of the American Jewish Committee in Washington last week — his most recent address before a Jewish audience — President Bush talked about America’s commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and about his administration’s commitment to Israeli security, but he did not link the two, as he has several times in recent months.
"We are basically telling the president: We appreciate it, we welcome it. But, hey, because there is this debate on Iraq, where people are trying to put the blame on us, maybe you shouldn’t say it that often or that loud," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "Within the Jewish community there is a real sense of ‘thank you but no thank you.’" . . .
And what is the cause of Jewish sensitivity to public American support for a U.S. ally and U.N. member under threat of extinction from an Islamic fascist nation?
Jewish objections to the president’s rhetoric have increased in recent weeks, as the storm created by a recent paper by two academics criticizing the influence of the "Israel Lobby" continues to grow. . .
Two blind-folded Jews face a firing squad. One whispers to the other, “I’m going to ask for a cigarette.” The other one warns him, “Shh. Don’t make trouble.”
You call this a Lobby?