Palin Wrong on Obama Israel Criticism

Originally Published in Politico’s Arena

By David A. Harris, President and CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council

Sarah Palin’s legendary miscues are really almost too many to count—from promoting a column that compared President Obama to Hitler to continuing recently to insist she was right about “death panels,” despite that outrage being named Politifact’s 2009 “Lie of the Year.” Even in Israel, she and her entourage didn’t know how to get to Bethlehem, or under whose control it falls—something everyone pretending to “burnish foreign policy credentials” should perhaps know about.

So it’s no surprise she’s wrong here too. An objective analysis shows that Barack Obama has been one of the most staunchly pro-Israel presidents this country has ever had. He has built unprecedented strategic military ties with Israel; provided historic levels of funding to help preserve Israel’s security; and spearheaded the global effort to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, a prime threat both to Israel’s security and our own. From consistently standing up for Israel at the United Nations and against the campaign to delegitimize Israel to restoring Israel’s “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME), this President has tackled a powerful array of pro-Israel initiatives.

While I always enjoy the good-natured give-and-take in Politico’s Arena, I think it’s instructive that the response among usually evenly divided contributors is overwhelmingly opposed to Sarah Palin and what she’s trying to accomplish here—from Democrats and Republicans alike. And that speaks volumes.