Pawlenty on Israel: Nothing but Smears and Distortions Politicizing Support for Israel

NJDC — June 28, 2011 – 1:04 pm | Election 2012 | Israel | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

Today the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) sharply criticized former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s comments at the Council on Foreign Relations that served no purpose other than politicizing support for Israel. Over the last few months, Pawlenty has proven that he stands with those seeking to make support for Israel a partisan wedge issue by not missing an opportunity to take baseless and unfounded shots at President Barack Obama’s outstanding pro-Israel record whenever right-wing smears abound. Following Pawlenty’s speech, NJDC President and CEO David A. Harris said:

Pawlenty’s constant misrepresentations of President Barack Obama’s pro-Israel record are profoundly wrong and must stop immediately. By totally ignoring the facts of Obama’s strong support for Israel, Pawlenty sent the wrong message to the world this morning when he accused the President of having an ‘anti-Israel’ attitude and when he wrongfully asserted that Obama views Israel as ‘the problem’ in the Middle East. Whenever Pawlenty or any other GOP candidate baselessly attacks Obama’s pro-Israel record—especially with this level of vitriol and empty rhetoric, as has repeatedly been the case of late—they send the false and dangerous message to Israel’s enemies that the Obama Administration is anywhere but squarely in Israel’s corner. These partisan games must stop before Israel’s security is threatened.

The Israeli government [Haaretz, October 24, 2010], the Jerusalem People Policy Institute [JTA, June 20, 2011], and NJDC have all warned that turning Israel into a partisan wedge issue hurts Israel’s security in the long term. Yet, Pawlenty and other GOP candidates continue to engage in these harmful activities that risk undoing decades of truly bipartisan support for Israel—all for short term political gain.

Pawlenty has already chosen the slogan “Results not Rhetoric” for his presidential campaign; but on Israel Pawlenty has gotten way ahead of himself by engaging in sensationalized rhetoric that does nothing to support a bipartisan consensus on Israel.

In February, despite the Obama Administration’s consistent record of defending Israel and vetoing anti-Israel resolutions in United Nations bodies, Pawlenty jumped on the anti-Obama bandwagon by baselessly claiming that “the Obama administration has shown an astonishing unwillingness to stand by Israel at the United Nations.” These comments were made during a week when reporters and pundits inaccurately speculated over the Obama Administration’s potential veto of an anti-Israel resolution. [Politico, February 6, 2011] Later in the month, the Obama Administration decisively vetoed the resolution on which Pawlenty based his unfounded criticism.

In May, Pawlenty joined the chorus of right wing partisans criticizing President Obama for a position that he does not hold regarding Israel’s 1967 borders. Pawlenty went even further than most by inventing details regarding Jerusalem. [CNN, May 20, 2011]

And despite record levels of funding for Israel’s security and defense from the Obama Administration and Congress, Pawlenty brazenly accused President Obama of “undermin[ing] our friendship with Israel and their security.” [Shark Tank, May 24, 2011]

The majority of American Jews expect that political leaders will work to foster a truly bipartisan and fact-based consensus when it comes to supporting Israel. Pawlenty’s disregard for the facts and his consistent attempts to politicize support for Israel continues to illuminate just how out of touch he is with most American Jews. These comments by Pawlenty, along with those from nearly every other GOP presidential candidate this election cycle, are further proof that the Republican Party cannot be trusted to represent the values of most American Jews.

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