Jews are highlighted on President Obama’s new website. Check the "Groups" section and Jews, it would seem, are defined as ''faith-less'' in comparison to other religious groupings.
President Barack Obama, besides being, well, perceived as ambivalent on the issue of Israel, its security needs and even its national ethos, could now be thought of as a waverer on Judaism as a religion.Just over a month ago, the ZOA came out criticising Obama on his Rosh Hashana message:
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has again raised the issue of President Barack Obama’s attitude towards Jews and Israel, following the latest presidential Rosh Hashanah Message, addressed strangely to “everybody,” and in which he never actually mentioned ‘Jews’ or ‘Judaism’ even once, referred to ‘Jewish tradition’ only once, and said nothing about the Jewish contribution to American life or anything else.
I am going to guess that the Jews closest to him are uneasy with themselves being identified as those of faith. And certainly not as nationalists. They probably consider themselves as of the cultural/ethnic variety of Jewish atheist-socialists, skirting, just, the edge of assimilation in defining themselves as “Jewish? Yes, but...".The site contains a strong political message on Israel:
From the beginning of his administration, Barack Obama has consistently exemplified America’s unbreakable commitment to Israel. He has worked tirelessly to ensure Israel’s security…The President has a deep understanding of the grave threats Israel…and recognizes Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people…
That is quite a remarkable presentation of the reality of Obama’s administration. Let us review the past few Obama years:- Obama has not visited Israel since being elected.- Obama has sought to wrench Jerusalem''s new neighborhoods from Israel.- Obama has termed Jewish residency in Judea and Samaria as "illegitimate".- Obama brushed off Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu..- Obama recently implied that Netanyahu is a liar and encouraged France''s Sarkozy''s personal hostility toward Netanyahu.- Obama has not done much about Iran''s nuclear weapons program.- Obama has demanded that Israel''s new borders must "start" at the Green Line, leaving open the possibility that the 1947 lines are still legitimate.
There''s much, too much more.Here''s just one view:
From the get-go, Obama adopted a hostile posture toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...At every chance, Obama sought to portray him as intransigent when it came to forging a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
• February 2008: When running for president, then-Sen. Obama told an audience in Cleveland: "There is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you''re anti-Israel."• July 2009: Mr. Obama hosted American Jewish leaders at the White House, reportedly telling them that he sought to put "daylight" between America and Israel...• September 2009: In his first address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama declared "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." (There was no criticism of Palestinian terrorism, for minimal balance.)...Secretary of State Hillary Clinton berated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a now-infamous 45-minute phone call, telling him that Israel had "harmed the bilateral relationship." (The State Department triumphantly shared details of the call with the press.) The Israeli ambassador was dressed-down at the State Department, Mr. Obama''s Middle East envoy canceled his trip to Israel, and the U.S. joined the European condemnation of Israel…
And many more examples.
Mr. Obama called for Israel to make territorial concessions to some approximation of the ''67 lines before an agreement is reached on the existential issues of refugees and Jerusalem...the essence of his proposal is that Israel should cede territory, put itself into a weaker position, and then hope for the best. This doesn''t even amount to a land-for-peace formula.…And then there was that line that "we will hold the Palestinians accountable for their actions and their rhetoric." Applause! But can Mr. Obama offer a single example of having done that as president, except perhaps at the level of a State Department press release?
Between Jews being ‘faith-less’ and Obama being less-than-faithful to Israel, how will the US Jews be voting?