Obama on Jewish Issues

The JTA hosted a conference call today between Obama and several reporters from Jewish publications.  Some brief notes after listening:

- He supports Israel as a Jewish state

- Rejects Palestinian "right of return"

- Admires Israelis and Jews for the way they "turned around" after WW2

- Visited Yad Vashem and says "Never again." Was horrified by the extent of the loss of life.

- Says Palestinians must give up violence first, before peace can occur.

- Visited Sderot - criticizes kassam fire

- Says Palestinian leadership needs to get control of the violence or there can be no peace process.

- Says that an email smear campaign has been going around - being sent to Jews - which says that he is a Muslim, that he swore his oath of office on a Koran.  Says none of it is true.  He was raised by a secular mother, attended a Christian church growing up, and swore his oath of office on a family Christian Bible. Says he is not a Muslim, never has been.

- Rejects Farrakhan's anti-semitism.  Says his church is not anti-semitic, or else he would quit it.

- Thinks that Jerusalem is a matter to be discussed between Israel and the Pals - has no opinion, or at least, is not stating it openly.

- Supports Palestinian right to a contiguous country - a land connection between Gaza and the West Bank.

All in all, though he could have gone further in his condemnation of Palestinian behavior, he sounded more positive about Israel and supportive of it than I thought he would. It didn't sound as if he'd be willing to sell the Israelis out or offer Israel up as a sacrifice for regional peace. But serious border issues remain in question, as does the fate of Jerusalem, and it's hard to tell exactly how he'd deal with them if he were to become president.

Disclaimer:  My expectations with regard to Obama's views on Israel were exceedingly low, so it didn't take much to exceed them. SoccerDad has reminded me that his chief foreign policy advisor is not a friend of Israel. 

Listen to the phone call

Comments

[Chaya]

Here is something else concerning another one of his advisors:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59930

Second story from the top.

Blessings,
Chaya