The Obama campaign rejected comments made Wednesday by one of its most controversial supporters, Jesse Jackson, that an Obama administration would tamp down the influence of "Zionists," even as Republicans seized on them to push Jewish voters toward John McCain.
Jesse Jackson.
Photo: AP [file]
The "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" would lose much of their power if the Democratic presidential candidate entered the White House, Tuesday's New York Post quoted Jackson as saying.
In an interview with Iranian-born columnist Amir Taheri on the sidelines of the World Policy Forum in France last week, Jackson reportedly said an Obama win would usher in "fundamental changes" in US foreign policy, most significantly regarding the Middle East, where "decades of putting Israel's interests first" would end.
Jackson himself in a press statement issued Wednesday accused Taheri of "selectively imposing his own point of view, and distorting mine," and stressed that his article "in no way represents my views on Middle East peace and security."
Jackson said he supported "the security and stability of Israel, its protection from any form of hostility, and a peaceful, nonviolent resolution to coexisting with its Palestinian neighbors." He did not, however, deny having made the comments or say he had been misquoted.
Jackson also reiterated that he did not represent Obama, nor had he had a conversation with the candidate on his policy toward Israel, though he did refer to Obama as "a member of the family" and himself as a "supporter" in the New York Post piece.
US president Barack Obama praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, during his presidential campaign [file].
Photo: AP
The Obama people repeated that point in a statement put out by spokeswoman Wendy Morigi earlier Wednesday.
"Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama's views on Israel and foreign policy," a spokeswoman said. "No false charges can change Barack Obama's unshakeable commitment to Israel's security."
She vowed that as president, Obama would "ensure that Israel can defend itself from every threat it faces, stand with Israel in its quest for a secure peace with its neighbors, and use all elements of American power to end Iran's illicit nuclear program."
But those comments didn't satisfy Republicans, who seized on Jackson's interview as an example of why Jewish voters should be wary of voting for Obama.
McCain foreign policy director Randy Scheunemann was quoted on an ABC News political blog as arguing that "it should not surprise anyone that Obama's supporters see what others, from the terrorist group Hamas to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, have seen: An Obama presidency would bring real change to America's policy of support for Israel."
And Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks asserted that Jackson's statements had confirmed Jewish voters' "long-standing concerns" over Obama's position on Israel, continuing, "That those with such virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views support an Obama presidency continues to be deeply troubling to the Jewish community. It highlights why Obama continues to have problems in the Jewish community."
Jewish Americans overwhelming support Obama according to national polls, but the support is less than that for past Democratic presidential candidates, with a recent poll putting Jewish backing for Obama at 57 percent to John Kerry's 76% in 2004.
Some quarters of the Jewish community have questioned where Obama stands on Middle East issues, and some analysts assess that this could hurt his margin of victory among Jewish voters in swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania. But the Obama campaign has been making a stepped up bid for these votes, sending prominent Jewish surrogates such as Florida Reps. Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz to speak on the Illinois senator's behalf.
Some Jewish Obama supporters contend that Jackson's comments won't hurt their candidate as he continues to court Jewish voters, particularly since Jackson himself has been critical of Obama.
"People who don't want to vote for Obama and are looking for excuses to not vote for him can throw this into the mix. It doesn't change anything," said M.J. Rosenberg, director of policy analysis at the dovish Israel Policy Forum.
He noted Jackson's comments disparaging Obama earlier in the campaign season - when an open microphone caught him using a vulgar expression toward the candidate - and claimed that his interview with Taheri was intended to hurt him.
"What Jesse Jackson says is irrelevant because Jesse Jackson does not want Obama to win the election," Rosenberg said. "Jesse Jackson is desperate to remain the most prominent African American voice in the country, and obviously Barack Obama getting the presidential nomination means that he's not, and he intentionally puts out a statement which is going to hurt Obama."
Rosenberg said Jackson, a civil rights leader who ran for president in the 1980s, was "jealous."
"It certainly doesn't surprise me that Jackson would put out this kind of venom. That's who he is," he said.
Jackson has uttered remarks deeply offensive to Jews on several occasions, and he is viewed unfavorably by much of the pro-Israel community.
"This statement, regrettably, is not the first troubling comment by Rev. Jackson regarding Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people," American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris said Tuesday in a prepared statement, which described his recent words as echoing "classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power."
