www.insightmag.com - Feb. 26-March 3, 2008, Posted On: 2/26/2008
Hillary campaign conducts private briefings on Obama for Jewish contributorsThe campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton has privately warned leading Jewish contributors to the Democratic Party of the consequences for Israel and the American Jewish community if front-runner Sen. Barack Obama is elected president. In a series of briefings, Clinton sent a message that as president Obama would be dangerous to Israel and American Jews. The aides unveiled Obama's connections to leading Arabs and fundamentalist Muslims—and his opposition to U.S. sanctions on Iran. "The briefings were very detailed and showed Obama as a secret Muslim anti-Semite supported by the worst of Israel's enemies," said a source familiar with the briefings. "I must say the Clinton people examined every aspect of Obama's life and associates." Although the evidence alarmed some of the members, none of the Jewish donors committed to supporting Clinton. The Jewish contributors, some of whom do not share the concern over Obama, have sought to avoid being seen as a spoiler of his campaign.
The Clinton briefers asserted that Obama's chief advisers include the most anti-Israeli members of previous administrations. One example is Robert Malley, a senior State Department official who today blames Israel for the failure of the U.S.-sponsored Israeli-PLO/Hamas Arab Muslim Nazi peace drive in the last days of the Clinton administration. Malley has called for Israel to negotiate with the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.
"All the talk about change, but without defining what that change should be is an opening for all kind of mischief," Malcolm Hoenlein, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told a news conference in Jerusalem on Feb. 12. "Of course Obama has plenty of Jewish supporters and there are many Jews around him. But there is a legitimate concern over the zeitgeist around the campaign."