The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg homed in on an interesting aspect of the fight over President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense this morning when he noted how the issue put AIPAC in a tough position. There’s little question that the pro-Israel lobby is alarmed by the prospect of having a man running the Pentagon who thinks the U.S. ought to be tough on Israel and soft on Iran rather than the other way around. But, as Goldberg rightly pointed out, AIPAC is in the business of working with Congress and the White House, not fighting them tooth and nail.
Goldberg correctly notes that it would be bad judgment for a group that applauded Obama’s promises on Iran to attempt to thwart him on his choice to head the Defense Department. While Obama’s support for positions on Iran and Israel in the past year and a half have often seemed grudging, AIPAC is eager to maintain decent relations with the White House. That would, as Goldberg seems to imply, argue for the lobby to stand aside during the upcoming donnybrook over Hagel. But the problem with this reasoning is that it ignores what is fairly obvious to both friends and foes of the nominee: his appointment signals that the administration’s election year Jewish charm offensive during which the president stopped picking fights with Israel and pledged not to contain Iran, but to stop the Islamic Republic, is very much over.
The last thing AIPAC wants to do is to fight a losing battle over Hagel in which it would get the worst of both worlds—a bad appointment and a White House that will be interested in payback for being thwarted. But the stakes are sufficiently high that it ought not be too difficult a decision. If there is any chance that the nomination can be defeated—and if reports about pro-Israel Democrats being willing to jump ship on this issue are true, he can be —then those who wish to send the administration a message that the country will not tolerate Obama breaking his promises on Iran must do whatever they can to accomplish this goal.
The White House is, as Goldberg notes, sending a loud message to AIPAC that the president will be offended if they fight him on Hagel. The presumption is that any such decision would have a negative impact on Obama’s continuation of policies that the lobby supports on security cooperation with Israel.
Yet by picking Hagel for defense, what Obama has done is to signal Israel’s friends that any expectation that he would stick to his word about containment or the use of force against Iran is probably unrealistic. That’s what the Iranians and Israelis are probably thinking right now, a state of affairs that is likely to lead to trouble for the U.S. Though it would be wrong to think that AIPAC has nothing to lose in this battle, the consequences of allowing Hagel to skate through to an easy confirmation are immense for the group and the U.S.-Israel alliance. That’s especially true if a strong push from AIPAC might be enough to nudge a critical group of pro-Israel Democratic senators to commit to vote against him.
There are times when groups like AIPAC must play it smart and avoid confrontations with the president. This isn’t one of them. By speaking out forcefully, the group can transform the Hagel issue from what is being spun in the media as GOP revenge for his opposition to the Iraq War into a bipartisan revolt against his nomination. That’s exactly what they should do.
It is time to stop with the lies and distortion. AIPAC is primarily interested in indirectly advocating on behalf of abortion and gay marriage. There is nothing more important to AIPAC's leadership than abortion. The defense of Israel rates a distant second. This is the number one reason we are at this stage.
What evidence do you have that AIPAC as an organization has any interest in either abortion or gay 'marriage'?
Not to mention that if Hagel is nominated and defeated, the blame-Israel-first crowd will still blame AIPAC, even if AIPAC sits out the fight. The usual conspiracy mongers and AIPACaphobes will be convinced in their heart of hearts that AIPAC pulled all the strings from behind the scenes. And the less proof there is to support the theory, the more they will point to the lack of proof as further evidence of AIPAC's power and underhanded ways.
still think the LGBT Lobby will be blamed if Hagel is defeated. nand then we will have Walt/Mearsheimer writing a book about how homosexuality is a Zionist plot
In your dreams. It is very safe politically to make the most outrageous statements about Jews, and about supporters of Israel. It is very risky politically to be seen as anti-LGBT.
"…stand aside during the upcoming donnybrook over Hagel." n nExactly, you start the fight, you sling the mud, THEN you stand aside and let your stand-ins do the real dirty work.
Case in point illustrating my earlier post. To JimmyBobby, AIPAC=anyone who disagrees with Obama.
Sorry. Not.
sorry yes, here's your logic from Full Metal Jacket: n n"The slopes who run are Viet Cong. The slopes who don't are really well-trained Viet Cong"
um, the premise of "standing aside" is standing aside, as in actually standing aside, you know, standing aside. Stand-ins like the GOP and the usual Jew tools. so if the Jews oppose its a Jew conspiracy and if they don't it's a Jew boy conspiracy. There's logic for you.
Exactly. The lack of evidence is even stronger evidence than evidence would be, because it shows the Jews are not only powerful enough to do it, but powerful enough to do it without leaving any evidence.
AIPAC has to stand for something beyond playing footsie with the President. If ever there was a time to oppose a nomination this is it. AIPAC's typical political correctness can resume on another day.
Another point: AIPAC might gain points with the Obama administration if it remains quiet (as Goldberg suggests and perhaps hopes) for whatever that's worth (obviously very little). But AIPAC has its own constituency to worry about as it prepares for its marquee yearly event: the Policy Conference in March. Its leadership might face a very hostile crowd if it doesn't vociferously oppose this nomination. AIPAC's very credibility is on the line.
Please, AIPAC's members have overwhelmingly applauded Hussein at every policy conference, no matter how much he rubbed Israel's nose in the barnyard pile. Not even a boo was heard last time.
I disagree. And although my sentiments are more nearly aligned with ZOA than with AIPAC, I will say in AIPAC's defense that it would be both foolish and rude, bordering on suicidal, for any advocacy organization to insult a powerful guest who is in a position to harm their cause, no matter how much they may disagree with him.
The big question everyone is asking is "why"? Why would Obama choose this man who has so much negative baggage; especially after trying to allay the fears of Jewish (and other) voters concerned for Israel that he "had their back". I think that if he reaches out to Jewish and pro-Israel groups in an attempt to alleviate their concerns about this pick, who knows whether or not their is bona fide sincerity in it. However, if he does not, I think it most certainly indicates that he has adopted the inverted James Baker political philosophy regarding Jewish voters … "F the Jews, they will vote for us anyway" and that everything he previously said regarding Israel was pretty much a charade..
"…The big question everyone is asking is "why"?.. n nBecause Barack Obama is an in-your-face African American who knows his opponents for cowards. He has just defeated the Republican Party hands down and left its ranks in complete disarray. He thinks he can do the same to American Jews and he is probably right. n nThe fact that this empty suit got elected the first time is amazing. That he got elected twice means that those who are amazed are out of touch. Domestically, this waster will leave America looking like Detroit. Abroad we will be a second rate power, ripe for exploitation and conquest. n nAnd those who voted for this pugnacious clown who never did an honest day's work in his life–seventy some odd percent of them stupid Jews–well deserve their fate.
Exactly right. What about the rest of us though? n nI don't deserve him . . .
Maybe you don’t, deserve it, Michael. I’m less certain of my innocence. n n I’m old enough to remember thinking that Joe McCarthy was a bozo and his charges that the State Department was riddled with Communists and Communist sympathizers was crock. I remember thinking that Abby Hoffman was funny and cool. I remember thinking that the Attica Prison rioters were heroes and the cops who shot them down were pigs. I remember thinking that Walter Cronkite was an honest and courageous journalist. I remember thinking that black people were an oppressed minority who deserved better. n nFreedom requires clarity and vigilance and I, like many in my generation, followed prevailing political fashion. Exactly as a new generation of lemmings is doing today. In any event, who deserves what is beside the point. Did the German Jews who voted for Hitler in 1933 deserve to be gassed and incinerated? n
Every generation during which the Bes HaMikdash is not rebuilt is as guilty as the generation in which it was destroyed.
C'mon, what does his race have to do with him? n nHe's a liberal Democrat who just go re-elected and doesn't have to worry about electoral politics anymore. He is what he is and now he gets to reveal it. n nHe could be purple and he'd still be the same.
You're absolutely right, Steve. If he was purple and he attended Rev. Wright's church for 20 years he'd still be the same. If he was purple and he was an affirmative action baby coddled and fast-tracked from birth but nonetheless obsessively nostalgic for the civil rights struggle of Nineteen Sixties and Seventies that to his good fortune he missed he'd still be the same. If he was purple, abandoned by a purple father who used woman like Kleenex and neglected by a slutty white mother to the care of her leftist parents he'd still be the same. n nIf Hagel was a Dutch-English-American Evangelical Protestant educated in Catholic schools from kindergarten and grade school in the Nineteen-Fifties through college rather than a rather than a Polish-German-American Catholic with that exclusively Catholic education, he might harbor the same rabidly anti abortion and anti Semitic views too. So what? n nThere's a typically fine piece in the New York Sun today about Hagel and personal prejudice you should take a moment to read, Steve. Read also the original article on Truman's prejudices linked to in today's NYS article.
The AIPAC echelon are paradigmatic Court Jews, most impressed with being on a first name basis with the power elite and being called by their first names by Hussein. Rather than take on the task of opposing an open anti-Semite (Hagel certainly is no closet anti-Semite) and losing, they prefer to maintain the myth of being the "powerful Israel lobby." Maybe they will show their real mettle on the day that they are handed the task of filling the cattle cars.
my nephew was at the AIPAC convention- n nthe applause was scattered and perfunctory n nAIPAC knows
My brother and nephew are members. I don't think they are in the business of fillling cattle cars. They seem to be in the business of Jewish learning and supporting Israel. But actually all along they were abortion gay-rights firster court Jews waiting to shove their co-religionists into a crematorium bound freight train. n nWho knew?
The vast rank and file membership certainly not; I'm talking about the leadership who are in tight as a fist with the Democrat leadership and regularly play the role of Court Jews, as they have done in the last four years silencing any attack on Hussein as anti-Israel. Furthermore, let us recall how the AIPAC leadership reacted when several of their leading lobbyists during the Bush Administrration were targeted by anti-Semites in the FBI and abusively prosecuted by the Justice Department for security violations. They were immediately fired and at first were denied any legal assistance whatsoever. Furthermore, I know several key players at AIPAC: their first loyalty is to the Democratic Party and they refuse to hear a critical word about Hussein Obama.
its true that their first reaction was to cut their former executives loose over that bizarre Lawrence Franklin witch-hunt. However they have been a big force behind sanctions when Obama didn't want them and didn't they support BIbi when he was under fire for his remarks to Congress? People who have power or are near power are mighty tempted to do what it takes to keep it. Still I can't get anyone to confirm that Israel thinks it matters. I called the Emergency Committee for Israel and got through to a not-little-fish there and tried to ask: are you guys doing this as a good fight completely on your own or have you also received expressions of concern from Israeli officials. n nWell, the guy took this as a question "do you take dictates from the Israeli Zionists" and hilarity ensues. I tried to say, well, talking to real live Israeli cats wouldn't be a bad thing and mentioned the very case you cite (why shouldn't execs from AIPAC shmooze with the embassy political and press officers?) which didn't help. n nstill, do Obama's equals in Israel care all that much?
oh wah wah wah…we'd better not speak up because President Obama might be mad at us… n nand what? do something like, oh, I don't know, nominate a noted Jew-hater for SecDef, thereby sending a message to Iran that it's perfectly fine for them to keep building their Jew-killing nukes? n nc'mon AIPAC, grow a pair. how much worse could it be than this? are you waiting to complain until Obama tries to find a nice job for Farrakhan? n nAIPAC does serve one useful purpose, though: for those of us who are too young to remember WWII personally, it demonstrates how an entire continent of Jews could go quietly to their deaths without putting up a fight.
what if Israel developed a really really big thermonuclear device. Massive megamegatonnage. Huge. n nand dropped the veil and tested it. above ground. n nObama would go nuts. but Iran might get a useful message.
I like this comment of yours the best.
Any ideas about where they could test it above ground? Or even underground? Certainly, no where in postage-stamp size Israel.
Azerbaijan?
no need to test "…really really big thermonuclear device" above ground, certainly nowhere near Azerbaijan, or Kurdistan, where most would love to have a normal relationship with Israel. n nEMT is what has everyone freaking out. n nas for ECI's frontal assault on Hagel? I emailed back that Hagel is the wrong fight. n n
You boys are seriously miffed tonight. I just fed ya all with a vote…except for JimmyBobby… so now I'm gonna tip-toe outa here and check on the damage tomorrow. Toodle-pips.
Nighty, night, Andy. Sometimes it's good to be the unchosen.
If AIPAC wants to hold on to its membership it will begin its "dump Hagel" campaign right now. AIPAC needs to send out an alert to its entire membership urging each member to make two phone calls to the Senate, one each for each members' Senators. Anyone that wants to appease Iran, Hamas and Hezbolleh is unqualified for a national security post – That's Hagel. If AIPAC does not act, it will shrink in size overnight losing its members to Zionist Organization of America which has come out forcefully against Hagel.
Unbelievable. I used to underestimate Obama calling him incompetent. But the way things are nmy hats off to him. Everybody, i mean everybody is in fear and awe. Never in my farthest imagination would I be witness to the time when the Jewish organization here are willing to put nIsrael in jeopardy because of one man. Maybe the Revelations is upon us.
The fact that the Israelis seem unconcerned by the Hagel appointment raises a question: How much more damage can Hagel do to Israel and Israeli-American relations than some other stooge Obama might have appointed to fulfill his mission to put daylight between the United States and Israel? n nIsrael is a tough and independent nation accustomed to overcoming seemingly insurmountable difficulties. The greater concern is for America and American power. Hagel's main job will be the emasculation of our armed forces. Radical cuts to the military that might have driven Panetta to resign will be welcomed by Hagel. America's enemies must be drooling in anticipation. n nHagel's nomination will guarantee Russia a return to superpower status. Iran will be guaranteed membership in the nuclear club. We Americans will be guaranteed gubmint jobs and food stamps. Welcome to Barack's world. n n
"We Americans will be guaranteed gubmint jobs and food stamps. " What, no aerosol soup?
Here is what is actually occuring here, AIPAC is selfish. They care first and foremost about AIPAC. Hey, beats working for a living. It is like, for example American Friends of Technion. Marvelous organization; according to it’s charter; devotes itself to one of the major universities in Israel. But wait, for every dollar you give of your hard earned money to Friends of Technion, how much do you suppose Technion actually gets as opposed to how much goes into the organization. I believe it is like ten cents out of he dollar, which goes to Technion, the rest supports the organization and the stupid socials it bankrolls. I refused to give them a dime, which would have translated into one red cent for Technion. Now I wholeheartedly agree with Jonathan Tobin and let me add one thing; it tooks guts to write this excellent piece. Will AIPAC risk it’s season tickets in the cat bird seat for it’s over paid fatcats; time will tell; until then only the likes of James Thurber would know for sure.
The ZOA is a good alternative to supporting AIPAC.
This cant be about silly ritualistic letters or the USO in Haifa,let alone poofters in uniform.It has to be about hesitancy to bomb Iran. God bless the hesitancy! n nSudge hysteria! The man's going to reaffirm his commitment to Israel in the hearings, not shove y'all into cattle cars. n nTake a valium, why doncha?
Why doncha? Good grief, you're from Minneapolis, doncha know! Okay, that explains a lot.
It appears that most of the "Lobby" is sitting this out. So to them it isn't about anything effectively because they're out of it.
Nobody "wants to bomb Iran." People want to prevent a fanatical government from acquiring nuclear weapons. n nIf you think that's a Jewish conspiracy or pro-Likud or crazy view I suggest you reconsider your thinking. n nTehran with nuclear weapons is going to cause a lot of problems for us, for the region and for the world. n n
AIPAC, ADL, the so-called 'Isreal Firsters', 'Israel Lobby' and 'Jewish Lobby' will still get the blame if Hagel is defeated. JimmBobby is not the only one to have delusions on that score.
there seems to be the growing impression among potential opponents that their opposition wouldn't be enough so there are signs of a mutual stand down.JimmBobby notwithstanding….
Lee "Rosy" Rosenberg, who is the President of AIPAC, is also a Chicago backer of Obama who served on his National Campaign Finance Committee. Enough said.