http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/jerusalem/2008/03/israels-obama-a.html

March 01, 2008

Israel's Obama anxiety

Obama <http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/01/obama.jpg> /(AP photo/Rick Bowmer)/

What was once a small rumble of anxiety is now starting to gather force. The whisper campaign is breaking the sound barrier.

The growing prospect that US Sen. Barack Obama will be the Democratic presidential nominee has generated significant push back from Israeli stalwarts and some of the Middle East nation's anxious supporters in the United States.

Of the presidential candidates, Obama is generally viewed in Israel with the greatest suspicion.

In The Israel Factor, <http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerPage.jhtml> Haaretz newspaper's ongoing US election pundit panel that is asked to assess who is "good for Israel," Obama regularly receives the lowest scores. The politically diverse pundit panel prefers US Sen. Hillary Clinton to Obama, and US Sen. John McCain to either Democrat.

But the false claims <http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp> about Obama continue to ricochet around the Internet. And there can be little doubt that the whisper campaign has helped to fuel the growing attacks.

"These absurdities are creeping into the mainstream," <http://www.miamiherald.com/political-currents/story/438340.html> US Rep. Dan Gelber of Florida said earlier this week.

"Some of the dirtiest attacks against Barack Obama are being carried out by Jewish bigots," <http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204127193517&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull> Jerusalem Post columnist Larry Derfner, an admitted McCain supporter, wrote in a caustic column this week.

In recent days, Republicans on the campaign trail have been going out of their way to try and turn Obama's full name - Barack Hussein Obama - <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3456545.ece> into a kind of curse, a nudge-and-wink warning about Obama's true allegiance.

Last week, in what appeared to be another attempt to raise questions about Obama's loyalties, the Drudge Report <http://www.drudgereport.com/> said Clinton staffers slipped him a photo of Obama <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V1FI680&show_article=1> in traditional African tribal dress during a 2006 visit to Africa.

Obama critics have even seized on the candidate's minor consultations with Robert Malley, a former Middle East negotiator for President Clinton, as a reason to question the senator's true intentions.

One Obama critic called Malley "the next generation of anti-Israeli activism. <http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/barack_obamas_middle_east_expe.html>" That prompted a strong response <http://www.realisticdove.org/archives/193> from Obama supporters including Martyn Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, and Dennis Ross, the longtime special envoy to the Middle East for President Bush (41) and President Clinton.

Many of the attempts to challenge Obama about his policy on Israel and the Palestinians has been based on rumor and innuendo.

But Obama's critics have already succeeded in putting the baseless allegations into play in an attempt to cast enough cloud of doubt in voters' minds so that they will think twice before casting their votes this year.

Obama is now trying to reassure Jewish voters. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/politics/01obama.html?hp> And Jewish support for Obama could be central to a White House victory. For obvious reasons, the issue will be especially important in Florida, which some may recall has played a rather critical role in a past presidential election or two..
--
Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/index.html>
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU <http://www.kxlu.com/main/index.asp> 88.9 FM Wed 8-9 pm Los Angeles