{"id":31829,"date":"2016-09-02T12:59:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T18:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=31829"},"modified":"2016-09-02T12:59:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-02T18:59:38","slug":"op-ed-quit-the-failed-attempts-to-paint-democrats-as-weak-on-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-quit-the-failed-attempts-to-paint-democrats-as-weak-on-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: Quit the failed attempts to paint Democrats as weak on Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor’s note: This is the second of two opinion columns contrasting U.S. political parties.)<\/em><\/p>\n

By MICHAEL M. ADLER<\/p>\n

MIAMI (JTA) —\u00a0Every four years the same movie plays at the Jewish Political Film Festival: It’s the one where the Democrats pass another party platform with more ironclad support for Israel and then nominate yet another presidential candidate whose record on Israel is beyond question. The ending is always the same, too, with two-thirds to three-quarters of American Jews voting for the Democrat.<\/p>\n

This year will be no different.<\/p>\n

American Jews again will vote for the Democratic candidate, confident that Democrats will have Israel\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

Not only is this year\u2019s Democratic Party platform ironclad when it\u2019s comes to support for Israel, but the Democratic presidential nominee also is resolute in her defense of the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

The platform is unequivocal in calling a strong and secure Israel \u201cvital to the United States.\u201d Vowing to \u201censure that Israel always has the ability to defend\u201d itself, the platform pledges to \u201csupport Israel\u2019s right to defend itself, including by retaining its qualitative military edge, and [to] oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is also the first party platform to promise that the United States will fight boycotts, sanctions and divestment efforts against Israel. The platform states the U.S. will work \u201ctoward a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated directly by the parties that guarantees Israel\u2019s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders.\u201d And it says Jerusalem should \u201cremain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine a more pro-Israel platform, particularly given the fears that some people had over the makeup of the platform committee, whose members included individuals with strong pro-Palestinian leanings.<\/p>\n

It also is hard to imagine a more pro-Israel candidate than Hillary Clinton, who in a June foreign policy address called Israel\u2019s security \u201cnon-negotiable.”<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re our closest ally in the region,” she said, “and we have a moral obligation to defend them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton has also demonstrated her pro-Israel bona fides as a U.S. senator and secretary of state.<\/p>\n

She has condemned Palestinian incitement numerous times throughout the years, sponsored a Senate resolution calling for the Magen David Adom\u2019s inclusion in the International Red Cross, fought for bills to combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council for its \u201cstructural bias against Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton helped equip Israel with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, advocated for the Iron Dome rocket defense system and upgraded Patriot missiles, condemned the unfair and maligned Goldstone Report, and opposed anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations and other international bodies.<\/p>\n

Her relationship with Israel extends back to her days as first lady of Arkansas, when she brought to that state Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, an educational program developed in Israel. Her ties to Israel have continued throughout the decades.<\/p>\n

Contrast Clinton\u2019s proven support for Israel with her opponent\u2019s lack of coherent policy on Israel \u2014 or any coherent foreign policy. One day Donald Trump says the United States will be \u201cneutral\u201d on Israel. Another day he says his \u201cprimary consultant\u201d on foreign policy \u201cis myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff.\u201d He questions Israel\u2019s commitment to peace and says he\u2019ll make Israel pay for American aid.<\/p>\n

Trump appeals to racists and anti-Semites, and his \u201cAmerica first\u201d promises would lead to an isolationist and nativist America that abandons its allies, including Israel. Shimon Peres, a former president of Israel, said such a policy would be a \u201cvery great mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peres is among a growing number of Israelis and Republicans who recognize that a Trump presidency would be dangerous. William Kristol, a neoconservative, ardent Zionist and editor of The Weekly Standard, said a Trump presidency would weaken America, which is \u201cis not good for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty Republican security experts signed a letter stating that Trump would be \u201cthe most reckless president in American history,\u201d and has demonstrated that \u201che has little understanding of America\u2019s vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances, and the democratic values on which U.S. foreign policy must be based.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those \u201cvital national interests\u201d and \u201cindispensable alliances\u201d include Israel.<\/p>\n

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, called Trump a \u201cloose cannon,\u201d telling Haaretz, \u201cThis can produce not just diplomatic confusion and discord \u2014 but it can lead to wars in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro-Israel Republicans, rather than wasting money on the fear of Democrats bringing even more American Jews to their party, particularly this year, should instead put their efforts into ensuring that American support for Israel remains bipartisan.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s bring down the curtain on failed attempts to paint Democrats as weak on Israel. It\u2019s untrue, it\u2019s not working and it\u2019s not helpful \u2013 to Israel.<\/p>\n

(Michael M. Adler is treasurer of Jews for Progress, a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, and is a former chair of the National Jewish Democratic Council.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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