By George Bennett
Robert Wexler helped persuade skeptical Jewish voters to support Barack Obama in 2008. Now he'll try to persuade skeptical Israelis to support President Obama's initiatives in the Middle East.
Today is Democrat Wexler's final day as self-described "fire-breathing liberal" representative for Florida's 19th Congressional District, a post he's leaving in the middle of his seventh House term.
On Monday, Wexler begins his new job as president of the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, an organization founded and chaired by wealthy Palm Beacher and major Democratic donor S. Daniel Abraham.
It's not a government job, but citizen Wexler, who turned 49 on Saturday, says he plans to work closely with the Obama administration and Middle East leaders in the long tradition of unofficial "Track II" talks aimed at improving relations in the region.
Wexler said he's already accepted an Israeli academic institute's invitation to visit Israel and explain the Obama platform to a country where one mid-December poll found only 13 percent of Israelis see Obama as supportive of Israel while 37 percent view him as pro-Palestinian.
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http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/01/wexler-to-pitch-obama-policies-to-skeptical-israelis-in-new-nonprofit-role/