Sen. John McCain Tries to Blame Obama for Flotilla

David Streeter — June 2, 2010 – 4:29 pm | Barack Obama | Israel | McCain | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

Yesterday, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made the ludicrous charge that President Barack Obama is responsible for the Gaza flotilla incident. McCain’s charge is way out of bounds. Just yesterday, Politico reported that Obama is the only world leader listening to Israel and giving its leadership the benefit of the doubt regarding the incident. Furthermore, America’s delegation to the United Nations worked tirelessly to prevent a one-sided anti-Israel condemnation from passing.

 

As ridiculous and shameful as McCain’s statement is, it is indicative of something much more serious. As James Besser alluded to in his post for The New York Jewish Week, statements like McCain’s do not help the U.S.-Israel relationship – they chip away at the bedrock of bipartisan support that has allowed the relationship to flourish for the last 62 years.

 

Besser wrote:

“Interesting; pro-Israel folks have been commenting positively about the generally restrained response to the incident by the Obama White House, but to some Republicans, it’s all Obama’s fault – like the BP oil spill is his fault (and never mind that Republicans have been the top advocates of letting oil companies regulate themselves while they “Drill, Baby, Drill), unemployment (but this killer recession started long before Obama took office) and illegal immigration (which no administration, Democratic or Republican, has seriously addressed).

… Middle East policy, more and more, is becoming something we discuss only through the language of reflexive partisanship. Support for an endangered Jewish state isn’t the issue, it’s finding your political adversaries’ possible weak spots on the issue and then figuring out ways to use them to score political points – and campaign contributions.

I’m guessing this can’t possibly good for what used to be the goal of pro-Israel forces – creating the broadest possible political movement, and insulating it from partisan politics, American style, where political gain is the only real goal.”

 

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