ZOA Praises Obama over Goldstone

David Streeter — October 15, 2009 – 10:20 am | Barack Obama | Israel Comments (0) Add a comment

According to JTA, the hawkish Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is praising President Barack Obama for his position over the Goldstone report. The report is the result of the United Nations’ investigation into alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead last December and January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon have all labeled the report as biased against Israel and, because of this bias, Obama has declined to push for action on the report’s recommendations.

In ZOA’s official statement about Obama’s position on the report, ZOA President Morton Klein wrote:

We applaud the principled and moral position adopted by the Obama Administration at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva which was critical of content and recommendations of the Goldstone Report.

ZOA is not the only organization praising Obama. The American Jewish Congress (AJC) did so as well. AJC’s full statement reads:

By deciding not to by review the sadly flawed Goldstone Report, the Security Council has finally made an important contribution to the Middle East peace process.

We believe that the United State and many European nations correctly understood that if Israel could be thrown in the dock for defending itself, there was no likelihood that it could be persuaded to take the additional risks which will be necessary in any peace deal.

Israel has already investigated whether any violation of international law took place during Operation Cast Lead. The Libyan effort to bring the issue before the Security Council was an attempt to make mischief at the expense of peace-making. The Obama administration is to be applauded for standing up to the pressures to press Israel further.

Why then is there still doubt over Obama’s commitment to Israel?

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