Jews Lose By Ceding Israel to GOP

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By Shai Franklin, Senior Fellow for United Nations Affairs, Institute on Religion and Public Policy

Why should Jewish concerns factor into President Obama's choice of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be his new Secretary of Defense? Beyond the suburbs of New York or Jerusalem, few can even understand the premise of such a question. But for too many leaders of American Jewish organizations, the answer is self-evident, as is their assumption that Israeli hardliners and U.S. Republicans are -- by default -- safer and better for Israel than any given moderate or liberal.

Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been talking down Barack Obama since before he became the Democratic nominee back in 2008. More recently, Netanyahu himself has been making statements seemingly calculated to reinforce Jewish and Israeli paranoia that a second Obama term will be bad for Israel. Reaction to the Hagel nomination indicates that Obama's resolute support for Israel's recent mini-war against Gaza rocket attacks helped burnished his pro-Israel cred but fell short of rehabilitation. And why?

Both passively and explicitly, a growing number of major Jewish organizations are letting the GOP and right-wing Israeli politicians co-opt the "pro-Israel" brand as window-dressing for their partisan agenda. This misleads the Jewish community and the broader public as to the true nature of their agenda. It is short-sighted, since it risks alienating many Americans -- including liberal Jews -- from anything to do with Israel. And it is ineffective, since -- despite investing millions in ads demonizing Obama's Israel record -- the GOP still lost Florida's Jewish vote by a 2-to-1 margin. The Jewish establishment is also increasingly irrelevant to Democratic and Republican administrations, since it appears to have little influence or ability to reward friends or punish perceived enemies.

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As far as Jewish political capital, the GOP-fueled headlines about Hagel's "Jewish" and "Israel" problems are flattering but fleeting. Just in the past few weeks, right-wing operatives and bloggers have also become oddly outraged about Hagel's onetime opposition to an openly gay nominee, a sensitivity that will last right up until the Senate confirms Hagel. Ultimately, this is not about Israel or gays, it's about Republicans punishing Hagel for breaking with Bush over Iraq and keeping our national security establishment safe for neo-conservatives.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shai-franklin/jews-lose-by-ceding-israel-to-gop_b_2442124.html

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1. Over 80% of American Jews voted for Obama.