A Democratic rift?

Meryl noted that Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid has expressed doubts about President Obama’s policies in the Middle East.

The United States needs to back off Israel a little and put some pressure the Palestinians instead, US Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told US President Barack Obama in a letter.

The letter arrived at the White House prior to a Thursday night between the president and special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, prior to the latter’s trip to Paris to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sen. Reid is not alone. The New Jersey Jewish News reports that Sen. Robert Menendez has taken issue with the President’s Cairo speech.

Menendez delivered his remarks to the Senate on June 16, discussing at length Israel’s claims to legitimacy and scoring its enemies.

“Especially in light of the threat of Iran, and in light of the threats extremists pose to so many innocent civilians around the globe, the importance of Israel as a strategic ally and friend to the United States could not be clearer,” said Menendez. “It is hard to overstate the value of having such a stalwart democratic ally in such a critical part of the world, an ally in terms of intelligence gathering, economics, politics, and culture.”

Good for them. David Hazony asks, “Can you say mid-terms?”

As much as American Jews may have supported Obama without caring too much about his record on Israel, at the end of the day, American Jews tend to care deeply about Israel, and their sense of what’s happening with Israel is highly informed by what Israelis think (or, at least, Israeli elites). In other words, so dramatically lopsided a view of American policy towards Israel will not be lost on American Jewish voters. Midterms are not that far off.

I would add that Americans, in general, are supportive of Israel. Though recent polling shows that Democrats are less supportive than Republicans. Still, it’s noteworthy that two Democratic Senators have taken issue with their party’s leader on the subject of Israel. Perhaps the administration ought to think twice before deciding to whitewash Hamas. If good sense won’t prevail, maybe politics will.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.