New York – A prominent Democratic New York State Assemblyman has spoken out publicly – and critically – about President Barack Obama’s position on the Israel-Iran stand-off and cast doubt on the president’s prospects with Jewish voters in November.
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“I have no doubt that Obama will not get the kind of support he got from the Jewish community in 2008 this time around,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a life-long democrat and the son of Holocaust survivors.
Hikind has been hot on the media circuit this week voicing concern about the president’s assurance that “I have Israel’s back” regarding a possible Israel-Iran military confrontation over Iran’s purported development of nuclear weapons. The president’s comments were made in a speech he gave to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
For Hikind, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who says, “I prefer voting for Democrats, and I do so 90 percent of the time,” Obama’s record on Israel has been less than satisfactory and a far cry from the president’s promises on the campaign trail four years ago.
When asked by this reporter if he is concerned about Obama the candidate, Hikind gave an atypical Democratic response.
“I can’t say I feel concerned for one simple reason: I was concerned about him four years ago.”
Hikind explained that Obama’s ties to left-wing radical activists dating back to his college days were brought into sharp focus in the 2008 presidential election. His well-documented affiliations with the likes of William Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground which embraced bombing government buildings in its efforts to end the Vietnam War, and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor for 20 years in the church of black liberation theology, were causes for concern even amongst the Democratic faithful.
According to Hikind, more cause for concern about Obama’s past radical ties is contained in a book coming out next month. In “Crisis of Zionism” author Peter Beinart claims Obama got his education about Israel from a group of far-left Chicago Jews who “bred in Obama a specific, and subversive, vision of American Jewish identity and of the Jewish state.”
“Why didn’t we know about this stuff during the ’08 campaign,” Hikind asked, more a lament than a query.
During the course of Obama’s presidency, Hikind’s concerns regarding U.S.-Israeli relations have grown. Among the red flags Hikind cites are the president’s “despicable” treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his visit to the White House in 2010, when Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks with the Israeli leader to have dinner with his family. The president kept Netanyahu waiting for more than one hour before returning to the meeting.
“I think Obama’s behavior in that instance showed how the president really feels about Netanyahu and his policies,” Hikind said.
Hikind then alluded to the now infamous exchange between Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a private conversation that was captured by open microphones before a news conference. “I can’t stand him. He’s a liar,” Sarkozy said of Netanyahu, to which Obama replied, “You’re tired of him; what about me? I have to deal with him every day.”
“It’s what Obama said when he thought no one was listening that really shows the disdain… for what Netanyahu stands for,” said Hikind.
Hikind believes Obama’s disdain for Netanyahu is rooted in the Israeli leader’s unwillingness to toe the Obama line.
“The president wants Netanyahu to be subservient to the U.S. … to be a good boy,”
Hikind averred. The outspoken Assemblyman continued on to say that Obama needs to come to grips with the fact that Netanyahu is a democratically elected leader, just like Obama, and that he was empowered by the Israeli electorate to represent their national security interests.
Adding to Hikind’s resolute belief that Obama and his administration are not the good friends to Israel they say they are, comes in the form of remarks made by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton last week in Tunisia.
Answering a question from a Tunisian student about U.S. politicians courting the “Zionist lobbies,” Clinton proferred that “a lot of things are said in political campaigns that should not bear a lot of attention.” Hikind provides a not-so-subtle translation to Clinton’s answer.
“What she seems to be saying is ‘Don’t worry about what Obama says during the election season. Wait until he’s re-elected to see how he really feels.’ And that’s the scary part.”
Hikind, who has become a de facto voice for the American Jewish electorate, says an Obama second term means “he will never have to face the voters again. Then he can really do what he feels deep in his heart. And I don’t think that’s necessarily good for Israel.” That prospect, Hikind says, “is going to make people think a lot … in terms of do we want to re-elect this guy.”
Although Hikind thinks Obama will still garner a majority of Jewish votes in November, he thinks that key states like Florida – a traditionally Jewish Democratic stronghold – might be up for grabs if the Jewish vote swings five to seven points in a non-Democratic direction.
“I think [Florida’s] where the real action will be. If the Jewish vote decreases by five, seven, eight percentage points it could be the difference of winning the state or not winning the state.”
Hikind believes that if Obama’s Jewish support drops from the whopping 78 percent share he garnered in ’08 to 65 percent – a possibility Hikind won’t dismiss, “it would be an indication he’s in trouble in general.”
What could be viewed by some as breaking ranks with the Democratic Party, Hikind views his call-it-as-I-see-it evaluation of Obama’s policies toward Israel as a common sense approach for Jewish voters.
“America is the greatest country in the world,” said Hikind. “I want a great president for this great country. I’m a Democrat, but I’m not a blind Democrat. Every now and then I’m gonna take an honest look. And what I know is that the relationship between America and Israel is absolutely critical.”
When asked about Obama’s willingness to give diplomacy a chance regarding the Iranian nuclear stand-off, Hikind offered a no-holds-barred answer.
“Diplomacy with Iran?! What in G-d’s name is he talking about?! What diplomacy?!”
Israeli leaders have long viewed a nuclear Iran – a country whose leaders have repeatedly called for Israel’s annihilation – as an existential threat.
If you think Obama is of concern to Hikind, don’t even ask his mother about the president.
“Let me tell you, my mother is a Holocaust survivor in her 90s, G-d bless her. A Democrat all her life. But if you mention Obama she goes absolutely crazy. She doesn’t trust him and that’s really what it comes down to.”
anyone in their right mind should not vote for Obama – he’s been the WORST president in the US history – not only for Israel but for the American citizens – VOTE REPUBLICAN in NOV 2012
Hikind is 100% right.
Hikind believes that Obama’s Jewish support drops from the whopping 78 percent share he garnered in ’08 to 65 percent
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if 65 percent jews vote for obama shows the jews are out of touch for israel and dont care if iran wipes israel off the map!
Maybe in Brooklyn, but that statement would not hold up elsewhere.
Its also increasing too. He gets lot of people today who like him that voted for McCain.
Has he said one single word about Israel getting rocket attacks over Shabbos? His silence is deafening. But if Israel stops a gun-laden ship from entering israeli waters….OMG!
Interesting analysis, but the part about President Obama leaving Prime Minister Netanyahu to have dinner with his family is an urban legend – it has no basis in fact whatsoever
Three types of Jews will vote for Obama:
One would be a liberal Jew, that means someone whose religion of Liberalism is more important to him than his Judaism.
The second would be someone who is utterly ignorant and unable to be ro’eh es ha’nolad.
The third, but really 2.5, would be one that is on the dole from the feds with payoffs – also known as a BRIBE.
Bibi is a true statesman and understands the Iranian threat for Israel and the entire world. President Obama looks like just another politician next to Bibi and he is clearly not pro-Israel, as the past threes years have indicated. Unfortunately, the majority of Jews will vote for him again as President and he will likely be reelected. That’s why Israel must strike before the presidential election since Israel cannot rely on Obama to strike Iran after the election and it will be too late for Israel to strike and be effective. G-d forbid that Iran ever acquires nuclear weapons and uses them against Israel. But, if that ever happened, I can just hear the Jewish Obama supporters exclaim ” Obama did everything that he could ” or ” We didn’t think Iran would really act irrationally and really use them”. After three years, I cannot understand how the majority of Jews can vote for Obama. I could not live with myself if Israel was destroyed and by supporting Obama, I contributed to the destruction. My hands will not be dripping with my fellow Jew’s blood!!
Last year, for his birthday, the Obamas invited Al Sharpton to the White House. This is the same Sharpton, who inflamed the crowd, during the pogrom in Crown Heights, in 1991. Sharpton’s presence at the White House was kept quiet, but it was revealed in a recent book about the Obamas by Judi Kantor. She works for the NY Times, and lives in Brooklyn. James Baker also is no friend of Yidden, and neither is Pat Buchanan. Although MSNBC recently got rid of Buchanan, it hired Sharpton. Go figure! For some reason, Yidden can’t seem to break out of their support of the Democratic party, which they’ve been attracted to, since the days of F.D.R; F.D.R. did very little to directly save Yidden during World War Two. Yet, Yidden voted for him four times, and many wept at his funeral procession.
B. Hussein Obama’s address to AIPAC was described by Iran’s government in positive terms. (!!!!!) Think about that: the horrific, antisemitic, terrorist, anti-American Iranian regime (horrific to normal people, that is, as opposed to naturei karta lunatics) actually APPROVED OF what the Failure-in-Chief, B. Hussein Obama, said.
That ought to make ANY normal American vomit.
In the meantime, G-d Bless the IDF and the designers of the Iron Dome anti-missile system: while the overrated imbecile B. Hussein Obama dithers and makes us want to vomit with wrong decision after wrong decision (about everything from social policy to economics to international affairs), the Israelis are ALREADY in a low-grade war with Iran (via their proxies in Gaza), and Israel is showing the world that it can defend itself against missile attacks.
!כל הכבוד, צה’ל
For the sake of the USA, for the sake of Israel: VOTE FOR ANYONE BUT OBAMA (except nutcase Ron Paul).
Didn’t the Satmar rebbe say we should not speak like this?
OMG. How many times to we need to remind Hiking to keep his mouth shut. Things will not change one bit anyway despite all his speaches, and I for one thinks Obama is handling the situation with Iran quite well.
We all know it’s not just Obama, but his entire cabin stands with him. He know more than you and me. In the end, Obama will take action if necessary, but in the mean time, he says there is still room for other ways (sanctions).
But for G-D’s sake, when will you people wake up and smell the coffee – the American president is not responsible for Israel one bit! Obama is not a jew, and does not need to defend other countries! Anyway it’s all bashert, and if anything, we have only one option: pray. In fact, we all know, “LEV MELACHIM V’SARIM BEYAD HASHEM”, and it doesn’t matter if the president is democrate or republican. G-D’s will is what will prevail anyway. Please Hikind! Stop with your stupid speaches. You’re doing more damage than helping anyone!
Obama is really trying his best. I am not saying that he succeeds in every way, but after all, there are other things to consider as well – what about economy, dead people, etc. We can’t judge him.
If any of you ever would have lived under antisemitism you would be abhorred what these candidates santorum, paul and gingrich promote.