For all the right’s misguided apoplexy last week over President Obama’s remarks on Israeli policy, it was hard not to notice that the Anti-Defamation League had high praise for Obama’s speech — and the ADL is led by Abe Foxman, a close Netanyahu ally.
Republicans stayed on the attack, of course, so it’s worth noting what Foxman told Greg Sargent about the administration’s position.
“I don’t see this as the president throwing Israel under the bus,” he told me. “He’s saying with ‘swaps.’ It’s not 1967 borders in the abstract. It’s not an edict. It’s a recommendation of a structure for negotiations.”
Foxman said that the broader characterization of the speech as anti-Israel by some on the right is also off base, citing its insistence on Israel’s right to self-defense, its opposition to the Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, and other matters.
“The speech indicated to me that this administration has come a long way in better understanding and appreciating the difficulties facing both parties, but especially Israel in trying to make peace with the Palestinians,” Foxman said.
If the ADL is defending Obama’s position, and AIPAC offered hearty applause for Obama’s position, it stands to reason that Republicans — most of whom have no working understanding of foreign policy at any level — probably need to reevaluate their wild-eyed cries about “betrayal.”
That is, if they were sincere. If I had to guess, I’d say most, if not all, of the Republicans throwing tantrums know full well that Obama’s line isn’t the least bit controversial, but they went from 0 to hysterical in an about an hour because that’s just what they do.
