In an interview with Jewish Life Television (JLTV), Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz failed to provide a single reason for Jewish voters to support President Barack Obama other than abortion, which she cast as somehow intrinsic to the values of the Jewish community. Later, in a separate response, she tried to defend Obama’s abysmal record on Israel. But she did not–and indeed, could not–cite Israel as a reason Jews should support Obama.
Here is the exchange between the host and Wasserman Schultz on Jewish voters and Jewish issues:
Has the president done anything wrong with respect to the Jewish vote?
No. On the contrary, the president has an incredible record of support and advocacy on the issues, domestically, that Jews care about–fighting, for example, to make sure that women have the right to make their own reproductive choices; fighting to pass the Affordable Care Act, to make sure that being a woman is not a pre-existing condition,and that insurance companies can’t drop us or deny us coverage, making sure that we have access to affordable birth control without a deductible or a co-pay, while Mitt Romney and the Republicans fought to take us back to a time when we couldn’t make our own reproductive choices, when you didn’t have access to birth control. And we’re re-fighting the same cultural and social battles with the Republicans because they’re controlled by the extremists in the Tea Party. So President Obama’s earned the support of the Jewish community.
So, there you have it–there’s no reason for Jews to vote for Democrats except for abortion. There’s nothing positive in President Obama’s record on issues that actually matter to Jews as Jews–certainly not Israel–that Wasserman Schultz can tout as a reason for Obama to enjoy the support of Jewish voters.
The host follows up by putting the Israel question to Wasserman Schultz. She not only attempts to defend President Obama’s record, but accuses Republicans of endangering Israel by creating the impression in the Arab world that there is “daylight” between the two parties.
In fact, it is President Obama who has endangered Israel–not just by creating discord between anti-Israel Democrats and pro-Israel members of both parties, but by creating the impression that the Obama administration itself is at odds with Israel. There are countless examples–the open and unnecessary confrontation over construction in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem; the snubbing of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; the unending leaks about Israel’s possible plans for a pre-emptive strike against Iran.
Wasserman Schultz knows that Obama is weak on Israel–hence her attempt to label abortion a “Jewish” issue. No doubt it is for some–but then, for those ultra-left Jews, anything on the Democratic Party platform becomes instantly “Jewish.”