Daled Amos: Are The Democrats Throwing Obama Under The Bus?

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Are The Democrats Throwing Obama Under The Bus?

One of the controversies hanging over the Democratic National Convention is the failure of the Democratic platform to address the issue of Jerusalem, among other omissions.

The issue was enough to require a response, and as Elana Goodman writes: The Democratic National Convention Blames Obama for Israel Platform.

She quotes CNN’s Dana Bash, who asked the DNC about parts of the 2008 Israel plank that were omitted from the 2012 platform:

I asked the DNC [why it omitted sections of its 2008 Israel plank from its 2012 platform] and we have an answer. And their answer was that they were simply following what the Obama administration’s policy is, and the White House said several months ago that the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in the final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that is why it is not in the platform as it was in 2008.

This seems to differ from the initial response the DNC gave, which Yid With Lid points out was reported by 770 KKOB News Radio:

“The Obama Administration has followed the same policy towards Jerusalem that previous U.S. Administrations of both parties have done since 1967,” a DNC spokeswoman said of the change in platform language. “As the White House said several months ago, the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians – which we also said in the 2008 platform. We will continue to work with the parties to resolve this issue as part of a two state solution that secures the future of Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish people.”

Apparently, that original answer was not considered to be adequate (perhaps for the reasons Yid With Lid points out), leading to the DNC response reported on CNN, that the Obama team was responsible for the modified Israel section of the Democratic platform -- a response that undercuts Obama.

Goodman notes:

That was obviously the reason for the platform changes, but it’s still interesting that the Democratic National Committee pointed the finger at Obama so quickly. It’s possible the DNC was worried about the long-term fallout with donors; this seems like one of those issues that would outrage the DNC’s pro-Israel Democratic contributors.

There may also be some fallout in the short term, as in the November elections. Considering that Obama is has not maintained the same level of Jewish support as we head into November, this issue will not help Obama maintain -- or increase -- his share of the Jewish vote.