SocraticGadfly: Obama support for Israel — a blank check?

May 12, 2008

Obama support for Israel — a blank check?

His commitment to Israel’s security is “non-negotiable”; does it go beyond that to blank check range?

Barack Obama sits down with Atlantic’s Jeffrey Golberg and discusses Hamas, Zionism and more.

Obama insists that he’s not going to write a blank check to Zionism:
I am absolutely convinced of that, and some of the tensions that might arise between me and some of the more hawkish elements in the Jewish community in the United States might stem from the fact that I’m not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that’s the safest ground politically.

But, he has also made the “blank check” comment:
When I visited Ramallah, among a group of Palestinian students, one of the things that I said to those students was: “Look, I am sympathetic to you and the need for you guys to have a country that can function, but understand this: if you’re waiting for America to distance itself from Israel, you are delusional. Because my commitment, our commitment, to Israel’s security is non-negotiable.” I’ve said this in front of audiences where, if there were any doubts about my position, that’d be a place where you’d hear it.

And, if Zionists insist that “X,” such as no-strings-attached “foreign aid” subsidy checks that get used to build the West Bank dividing wall? Will Obama stand up to them?

Well, we’ll see.

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