Today George Soros's latest dose of vitriol against Israel appears in the pages of The Post. Soros vouches for a potential Egyptian government comprised of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed ElBaradei. But then he goes on:
The main stumbling block is Israel. In reality, Israel has as much to gain from the spread of democracy in the Middle East as the United States has. But Israel is unlikely to recognize its own best interests because the change is too sudden and carries too many risks. And some U.S. supporters of Israel are more rigid and ideological than Israelis themselves. Fortunately, Obama is not beholden to the religious right, which has carried on a veritable vendetta against him. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is no longer monolithic or the sole representative of the Jewish community. The main danger is that the Obama administration will not adjust its policies quickly enough to the suddenly changed reality.
This is the "Israel lobby" canard writ large. In his view, apparently Obama is a pawn of Israel and of American Jews. (Odd Soros thinks so little of Obama since Soros raised millions for his election.) This is rubbish. Israel may be concerned about the turmoil and fear a post-Mubarak Egypt, but there's no evidence that is the cause of Obama's inertness. And, moreover, what evidence is there that "U.S. supporters of Israel are more rigid and ideological than Israelis"? In fact, the exact opposite is true, as pointed out by figures as ideologically diverse as Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic and Elliott Abrams, former deputy national security adviser to George W. Bush .
And why the slur against AIPAC? Oh, yes, Soros funds J Street, founded as a declared opponent of and alternative to AIPAC. J Street, of course, has called for the U.S. to join in condemning Israel at the U.N.
One wonders how the defenders of Soros, many Jews among them, feel about this. Can we expect 400 rabbis to express outrage? I won't hold my breath.
From here.
3 comments:
To blame Israel or the United States for the turmoil currently occurring in Egypt is ridiculous.
The fact is that millions of Egyptians are fed up with Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship of Egypt and want a democratic form of government established now.
If any country had an impact in instigating the Egyptian protests, it is Tunisia. The riots in Tunisia -- several days before the Egyptian protests began -- could have served as a harbinger for the current turmoil in Egypt.
By the way, I wrote a commentary on the current Egyptian crisis on my Theology and Society blog on February 2, which provides a brief but complete analysis of this crisis.
Readers of the Ethics Forum can access it by visiting theologyandsociety.blogspot.com and clicking on the title "COMMENTARY: Mubarak's Egyptian Presidency Must End Now" located about 10 titles down in the right margin under the heading Blog Archive.
Thanks, George. I'll read it.
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