True Colors Revealed; 'Anti-Zionist' Activists Named In Leadership Of Rabbis For Obama

It appears that President Obama's little charade of trying to convince America's Jews he's pro-Israel has ended.

First, it's been announced that ex-President Jimmy Carter will address the Democratic convention in Charlotte North Carolina via video hookup in prime time. And if providing a platform on national TV for the giddy little anti-Semite from Plains isn't enough of a clear signal, the release of the list of the leadership of Rabbis for Obama ought to end any speculation.

It contains some of the most rabid anti-Israel activists in America.

There are no less than eight prominent members of A Jewish Voice For Peace, a small group so virulently anti-Israel that even J-Street finds them inconvenient to have around:

Chava Bahle, Suttons Bay Michigan

Rachel Evelyne Barenblat, Lanesboro MA

Haim Beliak, Los Angeles

Lynn Gottlieb, Berkeley (Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Co-founder of Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence, Stony Point, NY, JVP Advisory Board”

Linda J. Holtzman, Philadelphia

Rebecca Lillian, Chicago

David Mivasair, State College

Brant Rosen, Evanston, co-founder Taanit Tzedek-Jewish Fast for Gaza

There are no less than 9 from the misnamed Rabbis For Human Rights, another far left anti-Israel organization:

Charles M. Feinberg, Washington DC

Gerald Serotta, Chevy Chase MD

Simkha Y. Weintraub, Brooklyn

Sharon Brous, Los Angeles

Aryeh Cohen, Los Angeles

Ayelet S. Cohen, New York

Maurice D Harris, Eugene OR

Ellen Lippmann, Brooklyn

Sidney Schwarz, Rockville MD


A quick search on these people reveals not only the most pronounced anti-Israel views but participation and support for the boycott of Israel (all of Israel and not just Judea and Samaria), the Palestinian “right of return” and consistent opposition to Israel's right to defend itself to the point of lunacy.

The inclusion of these particular activists in Rabbis For Obama says a great deal about the president's real views on Israel. Th eEmergancy Committee on Israel's chairman Bill Kristol's open letter to President Obama on the subject is worth quoting:

Dear Mr. President:

This week, your campaign launched a group called “Rabbis for Obama.” The "Rabbis for Obama," your campaign says, are "committed to re-electing" you due to your “policy agenda that represents the values of the overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community" and your “deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel.”

Though we have differed with you on many policy matters, we at the Emergency Committee for Israel have taken you at your word as to your basic commitment to Israel's security. Thus it was particularly shocking to see that your campaign had recruited, and was touting the support of, rabbis who have no commitment to Israel’s security, and whose values are representative of a small and extreme group of anti-Israel activists – and certainly not of the pro-Israel community.


"Rabbis for Obama" includes many leaders of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement, a movement inimical to Israel's well-being. It includes founders of the pro-Hamas “Fast for Gaza” initiative. It even includes one person who was pleased to dine with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in 2008 and another who says the United States and Israel bring terrorism on themselves. Several members of “Rabbis for Obama” are officials of Jewish Voice for Peace, a radical group that the Anti-Defamation League featured in its list of the “Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups in America.”

Far from demonstrating a “deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel,” these figures have demonstrated a deep hostility to the state of Israel and a deep commitment to demonizing the Jewish state and undermining the U.S.-Israel alliance. We are sure that you will be distressed to discover that your own campaign has included so many of them on the list of “Rabbis for Obama.” We cannot imagine their endorsements are ones you welcome.

This is, as you have pointed out, a particularly perilous time for the people of Israel. We trust you do not want, however inadvertently, to signal in any way a lack of commitment to Israel's security or a lack of concern for Israel's well-being. So we look forward to your repudiation of the anti-Israel figures among the "Rabbis for Obama." And we respectfully suggest that you have an urgent and serious conversation with whoever in your campaign thought it appropriate to trumpet their support as a way of making your case to the pro-Israel community.

Sincerely,

William Kristol

Actually, I'm pretty sure the President does welcome the endorsements of these particular rabbis. There's been little in his past associations or in his administration's relationship with Israel to indicate otherwise.

Nor can this president or his campaign engage in the sophistry of saying that these are merely some rabbis that happen to support Obama. If Mitt Romney had members of the Klan or the White Aryan Nation listed as prominent supporters on his official campaign website, people would be justified in questioning his commitment to racial tolerance.

Again, I understand that there are some Jews who simply cannot pull the lever for a Republican, even a pro-Israel one.

In those cases, all I ask is that you don't vote to put an anti-Israel president back in the White House, with no fear of facing re-election.

Just don't vote for president..skip that particular box.