Was It Really Obama That Put Jerusalem Back In The Democratic Platform? (Updated)

Here is a scene that may well end up playing over and over again in the nightmares of Democratic leaders, as the Democratic National Committee publicly rams the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel down the throats of those attending the convention:



Based on the boos greeting the "passage" of the Jerusalem plank, it is pretty clear that the Democratic party is not nearly as Israel-friendly as many Jewish voters have been led to believe.

And how did it happen that the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel got put back into the platform?


The Associated Press reported Obama was behind returning Jerusalem to the Democratic Platform:

The platform also now includes what advisers said was Obama's personal views on Jerusalem.

Similarly, CBS reported:

The flip flop was explained away by campaign officials saying the change was done to “reflect the president’s personal point of view.”

That is a very odd answer, especially considering the fact that it was the Democratic National Committee itself that originally said the removal of Jerusalem from the platform was done to reflect Obama's personal view, as reported on CNN by Dana Bash:



Here's the transcript:

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. [emphasis added]

The claim that Obama had to see to it that Jerusalem was re-inserted into the platform of course raises the obvious question, as Charles Krauthammer notes::

Well, if he [Obama] intervened to have it reinstated, how did he allow his platform to omit it? And I would add, all that was reinstated is the language on Jerusalem. They did not restate language isolating Hamas, about no return to the '67 lines. And the Right of Return. All of that is left out of the platform. Quite troubling for pro-Israel community.

I recall that back in 2008, Obama claimed that as proof that he could run the country one only had to look at how well his victorious presidential campaign was run.

At the time, it seemed a not-unfair point.

Then came the months and months as we watched how so many of Obama's appointees for government posts quit, for a variety of reasons -- in a number of cases because they had not paid their taxes (though that did not prevent all of his appointees from taking positions in his cabinet). That, as well as the economy and foreign policy, testify to the disorganization and disarray of Obama's 3+ years in office.

Now, lo and behold, Obama's re-election campaign seems every bit as disorganized and in disarray as his term in office has been.

1872 Democratic National Convention: "Peace and Good Will"
Credit: Wiki Commons

UPDATE: Powerline reports that Obama Approved The Original Democratic Platform

Earlier today, President Obama demanded that the Democratic Party’s platform be amended to include a reference to God and an acknowledgement of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But moments ago, it came to light that Obama saw and approved the original version of the platform, which deleted all references to the Deity, eliminated the description of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and softened references to Hamas. Obama was fine with these changes–changes in the platform that he himself ran on in 2008–and only insisted on reverting to past platform language when a political firestorm erupted. Politico reports:

Things got so bad that President Barack Obama was forced to personally intervene, ordering language mentioning God and naming Jerusalem as the rightful capital of Israel be added.

Obama had seen the language prior to the convention, a campaign source said, but did not seek to change it until after Republicans jumped on the omissions of God and Jerusalem late Wednesday. [emphasis added]

Oops.


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