Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

Philadelphia

T

here are times when even the
most ardent supporters of Israeli
sovereignty over Jerusalem wish
the politicians would just shut up.
Not that they
mind it when
men like Sen.
Barack Obama,
the putative
Democratic
nominee for
president, waxed
lyrical about the
Jonathan S. Tobin Jewish state's
capital. When
Special
Obama
told the
Commentary
annual confer-
ence of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee in Washington, D.C., in June
that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of
Israel, and it must remain undivided:' he
was cheered to the echo.
In doing so, Obama was follow-
ing a long tradition observed by both
Republicans and Democrats who have
been feeding Jewish audiences with the
proverbial red meat about this core issue.
Indeed, Obama's sudden annunciation
of a hard line on Jerusalem recalls the
decision of former Sen. Bob Dole — a
man who'd previously never evinced
much interest in Zionism — to intro-
duce legislation requiring the United
States to move its embassy from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem in 1995. This happened to
coincide with the fact that he was run-
ning for president the following year
and was hopeful of Jewish contribu-
tions, if not votes.
For decades, both parties played this
card every four years, putting the same
sentiment about the embassy in their
platforms. Of course, no president ever
elected on such a platform, includ-
ing some like Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton, who were both sympathetic
to Israel, ever fulfilled that promise.
And although Dole's bill was passed, it
included a poison pill allowing the presi-
dent to enact a waiver to put off moving
the embassy. Both Clinton and President
George W. Bush used that waiver to make
sure that the embassy stays put.

Finding Meaning
Still, Obama's speech was politically
significant.
Unlike most of the recent presidential
candidates of both parties, Obama does
not have a track record on Israel. And his
associations with some anti-Israel for-

eign-policy wonks, as well as with others
considered favorable to the Palestinians,
have raised other questions.
Like Bush, who entered the 2000 elec-
tion with many assuming he was as
unsympathetic to the Jewish state as his
father, Obama has something to prove.
But unlike Bush, who was elected with
little Jewish support, Obama cannot
afford to let the bad vibes about Israel
significantly diminish the usually over-
whelming Jewish vote for the Democrats.
That explains the decision to have him
verbally wave the blue-and-white flag
over Jerusalem. Unfortunately for Obama
and Israel, his comments to AIPAC were
spoiled within 24 hours when he back-
tracked on the "undivided" Jerusalem
talk after the Palestinian Authority and
various Arab nations denounced his
stand. So a day after drawing a line in the
sand on Israel's hold on the city, Obama
told CNN that although he wanted the
city to stay united, "as a practical matter,
it would be very difficult to execute'
Later, a spokesperson tried to explain
that what Obama was against was a
return to a division via "barbed wire and
checkpoints as it was in 1948-67:'
Well, I should hope not. During the 19
years prior to the unification of the city
during the 1967 Six-Day War, Jordanian
occupation of parts of the city meant no
Jew could step foot on Judaism's holi-
est places, which were also frequently
desecrated.

At Issue
Obama's dilemma shows how hard it is
for a man who likes the idea that most
of the world (which does not share
America's love for Israel) is rooting for
him, but still wants to assure Jewish
Democrats that they can trust him.
Of course, his Republican rival, the
presumptive GOP candidate Sen. John
McCain, was quick to deride Obama's
flip-flop. But even though Jewish
Republicans think they can make hay
on this issue, McCain's stand is also that
Jerusalem's status is subject to negotia-
tions — the same as both President Bush
and Sen. Obama. But just to show how
experienced a hand he is at working the
pro-Israel crowd, McCain added, "We
should move our embassy to Jerusalem
before anything happens:'
McCain's sympathy for Israel and
antipathy to its foes is a matter of record,
but we all know that pigs will fly before
an ambassador to Israel appointed by
a President McCain reports for work
in Jerusalem. That said, the rhetorical

games about Jerusalem do have some
impact beyond the dash for votes.
Despite the growing chorus of pundits
who claim that groups like AIPAC are
unrepresentative of Israel's support-
ers in this nation, the fact is that most
Americans still wholeheartedly support
Israel's stand on Jerusalem.
Even though Israel's current prime
minister has hinted that he will allow
some of the Arab neighborhoods of
the city to go to a Palestinian state in a
peace agreement, the odds of such a deal
happening anytime in the foreseeable
future are virtually nil. Even those few
Palestinians who would make such a deal
know that they cannot stop llamas ter-
rorists from using any soil surrendered to
them from being used as a base for terror.

Political Suicide
But that hasn't stopped some of Israel's
critics and a few who claim to be its
friends from asking that the United
States pressure Israel to be make more
futile concessions, including some
on Jerusalem. In particular, some of
Obama's fans on the left have been
hoping that he would do so, and were
bitterly disappointed by his speech to
AIPAC.
But their hopes are absurd. Pressure on
Israel doesn't bring peace; it just under-
mines the already slim chances that the
Palestinians will come to their senses
and start reconciling themselves to the
reality of the Jewish state.
Outside of the pro-Arab lobby and
a small cadre of Jewish left-wingers
— whose agenda is divorced from the
realities of the Middle East and more
about opposition to AIPAC's status as the
pre-eminent pro-Israel lobby than any-
thing else — few in this country want to
pressure Jerusalem. Indeed, as Obama's
statements trying to reassure the country
of his pro-Israel views this year dem-
onstrated, support for the Jewish state
remains a consensus issue that candi-
dates ignore at their peril.
Anything that clouds the issue, includ-
ing Obama's backtracking, will only
encourage more Israel-bashing, not
peace.
Rather than worrying about being
accused of pandering to the Jews, the
best thing for both Obama and the cause
of peace is to stick to the pro-Israel play-
book. ❑

Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the
Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. His e-mail
address is jtobin@jewishexponent.com .

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July 3 • 2008

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