Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Response to Congressman Rothman’s Defense of Obama on Israel

One gets the feeling from Congressman Steve Rothman cramming as many arguments as possible into his column (New Jersey Jewish Standard, June 25, 2010) explaining why President Obama is the best friend in the Oval Office that Israel has ever had that even he isn’t convinced. In truth, as any discerning reader will note, Rothman’s argument is ludicrous.

Response to Congressman Rothman Calling Pres. Obama the Best Friend Israeli Security has Ever Had

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

One gets the feeling from Congressman Steve Rothman cramming as many arguments as possible into his column (New Jersey Jewish Standard, June 25, 2010) explaining why President Obama is the best friend in the Oval Office that Israel has ever had that even he isn’t convinced. In truth, as any discerning reader will note, Rothman’s argument is ludicrous.

In the 18 months that President Obama has been in office Israel is being savaged as never before. Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey quotes the Ten Commandments to lecture Israel to stop murdering. Hugo Chavez this past week referred to Israel as a genocidal state. Even South Africa, currently attempting to curry international favor with the World Cup, joined the chorus, “strongly condemning all military aggression by Israel against innocent civilians, including those in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.” They then recalled their Ambassador from Jerusalem.

Why has hatred of Israel been raised to such unprecedented levels? Because the American presidency, shining herald of human liberty and democracy throughout the world, is occupied by a man who is utterly silent when Israel is defamed. President Obama’s active snubbing of Israel, on the one hand, and refusal to publicly defend Israel against slanderous attack on the other, has made it open season on the Jewish state. Today, any American ally can impugn Israel’s reputation mercilessly and pay no price in its relation with the world’s sole superpower because President Obama’s silence is itself deafening. Even Vice-President Biden publicly defended Israel’s right to stop arms from being shipped into Gaza. Not so the President.

If Congressman Rothman’s intention in penning such pro-Obama propaganda in Jewish publications is to win the votes of his Jewish constituents for his upcoming race, I suggest it would be more productive if he stopped defending the indefensible and instead finally spoke out against President Obama’s unwillingness to publicly stand with a tiny democracy fighting for its life against tyrannical neighbors sworn to its destruction.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach