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US rabbi under fire for controversial ad blames Power for his woes

MARCH 1, 2015 19:51

WASHINGTON - American Jewish organizations and the Israeli government are condemning a rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, for a campaign he launched against National Security Advisor Susan Rice over the weekend with an ad accusing her of complicity in genocide.

In a full-page ad in the New York Times, Boteach's organization claims Rice steered then-president Bill Clinton to avoid using the term "genocide" before the 1994 November midterms, fearing political repercussions should the White House appear complacent.

Boteach tied this alleged political calculation to Rice's comments last week on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, which the Israeli premier says is necessary for the protection of the Jewish peoples of Israel. Rice said his decision to accept the invitation is "destructive of the fabric of the relationship" between Israel and the United States.

"The spurious and perverse association of criticism of Israel’s prime minister with ignoring genocide not only poisons the discourse on a vital global security issue," Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement; "it trivializes the horrific nature of genocide and the memory of its victims."

Boteach's source for his claim is US President Barack Obama's current ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, "my good friend," Boteach said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night.

"Samantha Power," he said, "is the one who called her complicit in genocide."

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