Questioning Obama antipathy - The Jewish Standard

Thank you for setting the record straight on President Obama’s record on Israel (Jan. 6). Unfortunately, it seems that whenever he has chosen not to march lockstep with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has found himself and his administration subject to specious claims of hostility toward Israel. I have heard pulpit rabbis digress from the parsha of the week and instead, twist the president’s speeches and quote phrases out of context in order to make it appear, incorrectly, as if the president advocates a return to pre-1967 borders without negotiated adjustments. As you point out, this administrations’ record, notably in the areas of arms sales and intelligence, has been friendlier to Israel than any of its predecessors.

I have often wondered about the source(s) of this antipathy toward this president. During my travels to Israel, where American notions of political correctness have not yet fully taken root, it was obvious to me that there is a racist element to the animus. But why those feelings of Obama-enmity are shared by many traditional American Jews remains less clear. Whatever the source, those feelings are not based upon facts.

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