Obama foes questioning his commitment to Israel

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama has a Jewish problem.

How big a problem is a matter of debate, but even Obama's supporters acknowledge that the first-term senator from Illinois has been under intense attack from some sectors of the Jewish community, which has a long history of supporting Democratic candidates.

Last weekend, Eric Lynn, Obama's Middle East policy adviser, sent out an e-mail noting: "In recent weeks, attacks on Senator Barack Obama, his personal background, and his positions on Israel have circulated in the Jewish community."

The attacks — which have come primarily from Republicans and unattributed Internet postings and e-mail posts — have focused on Obama's perceived support for the Palestinian cause, his long relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and his willingness to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The topics raise the question of the depth of Obama's support for Israel.

The attacks have prompted some Jewish supporters to step forward to defend Obama.

Two weeks ago, Jack S. Levin, a prominent Jewish attorney in Chicago, sent out an e-mail seeking donors to help buy a full-page ad to run in The New York Times proclaiming the Jewish community's support for Obama.

And in February, Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., who is one of Obama's most visible Jewish supporters, wrote an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post noting: "If you're Jewish and spend any time on the Internet, you've read some outlandish things about the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. But the facts are clear: Senator Obama is a strong friend of the American Jewish community and Israel and will make ensuring Israel's security a high priority of his administration."

Obama himself has repeatedly rejected the attacks and affirmed his support for Israel.

"There is a special connection between America and Israel," Obama said last week, appearing on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

"What I love about Israel is that they are a robust democracy and that they are committed to principles like rule of law and civil rights, and civil liberties. So it is critical that we send a message around the world: We will stand with Israel. We want them around not just for 60 years but for 600 years, and when I am president of the United States they will have an unwavering ally in me."

Obama's campaign points to a Gallup Poll released last week showing that he would beat John McCain by a 2-to-1 margin in the Jewish community as evidence that Obama does not have a problem among Jewish voters.

But the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group that calls itself the "voice of Jewish Republicans," seized on the fact that Obama's 61 percent support in the poll was far less than the nearly 75 percent of Jewish votes that Democratic nominee John Kerry received in 2004 against George W. Bush.

The poll was "another important indicator of the ongoing troubles Barack Obama has with Jewish voters," said Matt Brooks, executive director of the coalition. "These results show that the American Jewish community is troubled by what they know of Barack Obama, his views and his positions."

Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said McCain was doing better among Jewish voters than other Republican candidates since 1992 "because he is perceived as a moderate. Once his record on choice, church and state, and the economy are known, I think those numbers will suffer."

McCain opposes abortion, while most Jewish voters favor abortion rights. McCain also has said the Constitution established the United States as a "Christian nation," and he has embraced most of President Bush's economic policies.

Wexler said the Gallup Poll, taken in April, came at the "lowest point" in the Obama campaign when he was responding to the firestorm created by Wright's comments and was losing primaries in several large states.

He predicted that most Jewish Democrats would rally behind Obama once he becomes the nominee and launches an extensive outreach campaign to the Jewish community.

Wexler said comparing Obama's Jewish support at this point in the campaign to Kerry's election-day numbers is misleading, and predicted Obama ultimately would win a greater percentage of Jewish votes than Kerry received.

Many of the attacks against Obama have been widely discredited as false: the claim that he is a Muslim; that he was sworn in as a senator on the Koran, and that he refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Other attacks attempt to tar Obama with the views of his supporters, even if those views are contrary to Obama's stated positions.

For example, the Republican Jewish Coalition criticizes Obama because he has been endorsed by film maker Michael Moore, who the coalition says "has placed a disproportionate blame on Israel for the Palestinians' use of terror and violence and calls Americans an 'ignorant people.' "

Obama has repeatedly rejected such excuses for Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israel.

Here are some of the other major attacks on Obama raised among Jewish voters:

Hamas

Republicans have seized on a comment made on a New York radio broadcast by Ahmed Yousef, described as Hamas's chief political adviser: "We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election." McCain and others have characterized that comment as an endorsement of Obama by Hamas.

Obama called McCain's statement "offensive ... disappointing ... a smear ... and unfortunate, particularly since my policy towards Hamas has been no different than his. I have said that they are a terrorist organization, that we should not negotiate with them unless they recognize Israel and renounce violence, and unless they are willing to abide by previous accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis."

Jimmy Carter

The Republican Jewish Coalition and others argue that Obama should have demanded that Carter not negotiate with Hamas on his recent Mideast trip, or should have denounced him for doing so.

Obama has said he disagreed with Carter's decision to meet with Hamas leaders, but that he could not prevent the former president from acting on his own.

"I have a fundamental difference with President Carter and disagree with his decision to meet with Hamas," Obama told Jewish leaders in Philadelphia last month. "We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction."

Iran

Obama's critics say he should not have declared he would meet "without precondition" with the leaders of Syria and Iran, including Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly threatened the existence of Israel and called the Holocaust a "myth."

Obama has denounced what he calls the Bush administration's "saber-rattling" toward Iran and rejected Clinton's suggestion that U.S. troops should remain in Iraq as a bulwark against Iran. But Obama also has supported diplomatic sanctions on Iran if it pursues nuclear weapons and has sponsored legislation to make it easier for states to remove Iran-related investments from their pension funds.

In his Philadelphia speech last month, Obama said, "The gravest threat to Israel today comes from Iran ... and my goal as president will be to eliminate it."

Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Obama's close personal relationship to Wright, the former pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, caused a crisis for the Obama campaign last month because of the pastor's statements about the United States. But Jewish critics of Obama have seized on Wright's anti-Israel comments ,such as that the United States has "supported state terrorism against the Palestinians."

Obama also has been criticized because the church's magazine published an essay by a Hamas leader advocating Israel's destruction.

Obama initially denounced Wright's comments but did not cut their personal ties. But when Wright went on a tour two weeks ago defending his statements, Obama publicly broke with the pastor.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama said the day after Wright's contentious appearance at the National Press Club. Obama said Wright's comments "offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced."

Louis Farrakhan

Last year, the magazine of Obama's church gave its Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a long history of anti-Semitic statements. Obama's critics have used that award to attempt to link Obama with Farrakhan's anti-Semitism.

Obama has repeatedly sought to distance himself from Farrakhan. In a January statement, Obama said: "I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan." Obama went on to say that "I assume that Trumpet magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree."

Advisers

Obama has been criticized by the Republican Jewish Coalition and others for having advisers who are seen as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. The most recent attacks have focused on former Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak, who told the Oregonian newspaper in March that "U.S. policy in the Mideast is influenced by pro-Israeli voters."

Brooks, the RJC executive director, said: "While Senator Obama's campaign has said that he disagrees with General McPeak's comments about the power of pro-Israeli voters, campaign statements are not enough. If Senator Obama genuinely disagrees, than it is incumbent upon him to take action and immediately remove General McPeak as his military adviser and national campaign co-chairman."

Responding to questions about McPeak, the Obama campaign pointed to a recent article by McPeak in which he said: "I am a long-time admirer (and think myself a friend) of Israel. In the early 1970s, I played a key role in getting advanced weaponry released to the Israeli Air Force — capabilities it later put to active use. ... It is my view and hope that Israel will have our continued support. I wish it every success."

Larry Lipman's e-mail address is larryl@coxnews.com