U.S. Jews give Obama mixed reviews for 'pro-Israel' UN speech

[Jefferson23]

AIPAC lauds U.S. President for seeing Israelis deserve 'normal relations with their neighbors'; Americans for Peace Now: U.S. position as defender of rights cannot stand as Israeli-Palestinians conflict 'left to fester'.

By Natasha Mozgovaya


It was quite clear that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech, which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he "would sign with both hands," would draw mixed reactions. Its failure to go into details about the Israeli-Palestinian issue was assumed to be due to a combination of re-election concerns and those of slipping Jewish support.

But the U.S. Jewish organizations provided varying - in some cases even polar - responses to the speech.

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), which recently launched a new website explaining Obama's support for Israel, took the speech as an opportunity to claim that all the "political chatter" doubting the president's support for Israel should be "put to bed once and for all."

"As he has proven throughout his presidency, President Obama supports Israel and its people instinctively. Israel truly has no better friend in the world today," NJDC leaders Marc Stanley and David Harris said in a joint statement Wednesday.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-jews-give-obama-mixed-reviews-for-pro-israel-un-speech-1.386043

[dennis4868]

1. I don't know...

but I read the article and it seems like everyone was happy with Obama's speech...where were the "mixed" reviews?

[Jefferson23]

2. From the OP:

But on the left side of the map, the disappointment was palpable.

Americans for Peace Now President and CEO Debra DeLee said Obama's speech, while saying the Americans support peace, offered little hope to Israelis and Palestinians.

"Israelis want and deserve peace and security as much as anyone in the region. Palestinians want and deserve freedom and self-determination as much as Egyptians, Tunisians, or Libyans. The United States cannot maintain credibility as the standard-bearer of rights and freedoms while the Israeli-Palestinians conflict is left to fester," said DeLee.

DeLee called upon the U.S. President to use his time at the United Nations this week as an opportunity to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations. "Only this can re-establish and re-assert U.S. credibility and re-inject hope for an end to this conflict,” she said. (end)

That's about it for those interviewed.

[Ian David]

4. There's the guy with the yarmulke screaming under the bridge and then there's everyone else.

That's a "mixed" review.

[Jefferson23]

3. Obama courts Jewish vote with UN speech

US president's aides advise Jewish leaders on his pro-Israel address prior to General Assembly speech in order to ensure 'message is received'

Orly Azoulay Published: 09.22.11, 11:15 / Israel News

Hours before his UN General Assembly address, US President Barack Obama sought to ensure that prospective Jewish voters pay close attention to his speech.

Three of Obama's aides held a conference call with the president's Jewish supporters and community leaders on Wednesday, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

The advisers, all Jewish themselves, asked the supporters to "spread the word" that Obama will give a pro-Israel speech which reflects his own genuine positions and implored them to pay close attention to the president's UN address.


The advisers chosen for the task were Ira Foreman, former head of the National Jewish Democratic Council; Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; and Robert Wexler, former House of Representative member closely associated with the president.

The three stressed that the Republicans intentionally distort Obama's statements to portray him as an anti-Israel president, when in fact their arguments are baseless.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4125962,00.html