Representatives of the National Jewish Democratic Committee and the Republican Jewish Coalition debated at Yeshiva University Wednesday night.
RJC Executive Director Greg Menken urged Jewish voters to vote Republican to preserve the “overwhelmingly pro-Israel� atmosphere in the US House of Representatives and Senate, while NJDC Deputy Executive Director David Goldenberg maintained that there was little difference between the two parties’ attitudes toward Israel, and that “the only way for us to have overwhelming support for Israel is if it remains a bipartisan issue.� In addition, the two discussed recent remarks by John Kerry and developments in Iraq and North Korea.
Menken and Goldenberg, differed drastically over President Bush, the Christian Right and Middle East policy.
Menken referred to Bush as “the best friend Israel’s ever had in the White House,� stating that Bush had implemented a “new policy — secure Israel first, peace second; with Clinton, it was the other way around.� He cautioned that “if Democrats take over the House, it’s safe to assume the House’s posture towards Israel will worsen,� and emphasized that Republican support for Israel was “a grass-roots trend at the national level,� citing an NBC poll taken in July that found 84% of Republicans sympathized with Israel. “There are no Republicans at these anti-Israel, anti-America rallies,� he said. “Those are leftists, liberals, Democrats.�
Goldenberg questioned Menken’s assertions about Republican sympathies, however, stating that Republicans repeatedly turned a blind eye toward, or supported, anti-Israel moves made by other Republicans. Quoting from a packet distributed at the debate by the NJDC titled “Republicans Refusing to Criticize Their Own,� Goldenberg noted Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s recent remarks to the American Taskforce on Palestine that Palestinians should be “forever free of the daily humiliation of occupation� and Republican Representative Darrell Issa’s reference to Israel as an “apartheid state� with “artificial lines� as examples of anti-Israel sentiments within the Republican party. Goldenberg even seemed skeptical of the RJC, criticizing it for its failure to comment on such statements. “We’re the first ones to criticize Democrats who say stupid things,� he said, adding “Republican Jews don’t, leaving me to believe either [that] one, they don’t care, or two, they agree.�
“Those on the left might criticize Israeli policy,� Goldenberg added, “but those on the right blame the Jews. There’s a big difference.�
Goldenberg also castigated the RJC for “trying to scare you, using Holocaust imagery,â€? in reference to an RJC 2006 Ad Campaign which “suggests that Jews who oppose President Bush are ‘appeasers.’â€? Goldenberg said, there is no way to maintain “overwhelming supportâ€? for Israel “If Israel is not a bipartisan issue, and we don’t sit down and talk with people who don’t agree with [us].”
Menken, though, called the Democratic “even-handedâ€? approach to Israel “like John Dingell—he’s not for or against Israel, he just doesn’t see a difference between a democratic ally and a terrorist state.â€? He claimed that Bush’s relationship with Israel surpassed previous presidents’ exactly because his policy was “not even-handed, it is pro-Israel — he’s put the onus on the Palestinians, where Clinton twisted Israel’s arm, and what happened was the second intafada.â€? Goldenberg replied by asking, “How come this administration forced Israel into a ceasefire [enforced by] the UN?â€? noting “That wasn’t the Democrats, that was the Bush administration.â€?
Commenting on John Kerry’s recent “botched joke,� Menken stated that Democrats would say anything to attack the president because they had little of substance to offer themselves, offering Kerry’s remark as an example of how Democrats would “risk offending our troops just to bash the president.� But Goldenberg said that while Kerry delivered it poorly, the prepared version was a “fine joke� and that Republicans were attempting to “throw anything up against the wall and hope it sticks� as a “distraction� while the elections approach. “I don’t think it will have any effect on the elections,� Goldenberg said.
Issues that would play a part in the upcoming elections, Goldenberg said, were topics like Iraq and North Korea, as well as the separation of church and state.
Responding to criticism that Democrats had no clear plan for future policy in Iraq, Goldenberg said that most Democrats did not advocate an immediate withdrawal, but insisted on the need for a timetable. “That’s the Democratic plan,â€? he said, asserting “we need to have a timetable to withdraw from Iraq — many [Democrats] have argued that we ought to redeploy [forces] to countries around the area like Qatar and if the government in Iraq needs help we’ll go in and help them.â€? Goldenberg further asserted that “no one is going to stop [North Korea] from going into Chinaâ€? because the US had “exhausted its leverage with the international community.â€?
“The only reason we’re having more success there than we did with Iran is because we have China onboard,� Goldenberg said, noting “we got regional countries to apply pressure.�
Menken said that “to suggest the U.S. has no international leverage� was ridiculous, arguing that the financial sanctions America had imposed on North Korea was a key factor in “getting them to the six-party talks.� He added that to withdraw from Iraq now would effectively mean “terrorists win, we lose, because it would just become a haven for terror.� He said that “this is World War III,� noting that many organizations in the region would “like to see another Holocaust,� comparing the Iranian president’s declaration of his intent to “wipe Israel off the map� to Hitler’s statement of his Final Solution. Menken further argued that the War on Terror was producing results, citing Pakistan’s recent bombing of a terrorist training camp as something that “would have never happened before.�
Bringing up the controversy over placing the Ten Commandments in federal buildings, Goldenberg said “the Christian Right wants our kids to pray in school, but only according to their religious beliefs.� Menken responded, declaring that the “Christian Right are our friends whom we should embrace, especially when it comes to Israel.�
Menken noted of Goldbenberg, “He says the RJC is trying to scare youâ€? adding, “They’re trying to scare you about the Christian right, rather than addressing you or the party that kicked out Joe Lieberman; to buy into that is illogical.â€?
Goldenberg ended the night on an ominous note, however. “Part of what makes America so darn good,â€? he warned, “is that we accept people who don’t share our religious beliefs — The minute the separation stops being as strong as it is right now, we as Jews have big problems, and the path we’re on right now is a very scary one.â€?
Look for students’ response to the debate, including those of Ari Lamm, President of the YU Republicans, on why he declined to cosponser the event, and Mayer Kovacs, one of the debate’s organizers, in upcoming posts.