Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin is an independent group of academic, religious and political leaders, dedicated to promoting consideration of Gov. Sarah Palin’s political positions in the wider American Jewish community.
We find Ms. Palin’s policy positions on Israel, Iran, national security, fiscal responsibility, energy, and social policy – as well as her record on these issues as governor of Alaska and candidate for Vice President of the United States – to be serious, substantive and politically mainstream.
Though not at present a candidate for any political office, Gov. Palin’s track record in public office has been exemplary and has withstood the test of the most demanding scrutiny of investigative news media. Gov. Palin’s ongoing contribution to the public discourse in America is welcome.
When it comes down to it, Cohen told me, nobody’s really ready to be president – or even mayor of Philadelphia – before they’re elected.
“And the question that should be being asked is not: ‘Is Sarah Palin qualified to be president of the United States on Day One?’ I mean, I hate to say this, I think the answer to that question is probably obviously she isn’t,” Cohen said.
“But that’s not the right question.
The question is: Does she have the capacity based upon her experience and her background to grow into a position where she could be an effective president if she’s called upon to be president of the United States?’ And I think at a minimum, that’s a much closer question than the question other people are asking.”
Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has strongly criticized Democrats in Congress for not speaking out against the Obama administration’s anti-Israel tilt.
Koch, who himself served as a Democrat congressman from 1969 to 1977, wrote in his April 20 weekly commentary: “The silence continues to be deafening with no Democrat in Congress to my knowledge crying out against President Obama for continuing to try to diminish the U.S.’ closeness to Israel. The President is apparently attempting to placate the Sunni Muslim countries…The President fails to realize, however, that sacrificing the U.S.-Israel relationship is both unnecessary and dangerous…Only through steadfast U.S. support of Israel will the Arab countries realize that the Jewish state is here to stay. That, in turn, will lead to peace.”
Koch was particularly critical of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York. Koch wrote previously that when he challenged the Democrats’ silence on Israel, Schumer contacted him privately to say that he was “working behind the scenes” to alter U.S. policy. Now, in his April 20 commentary, Koch wrote:
“There are those when asked what they are doing to challenge and defeat the President’s actions with regard to these grave matters, who have answered, ‘I am working behind the scenes.’ Those corridors must be heavily crowded and those hidden efforts do not appear to have produced results. I repeat, the silence is deafening.”
Koch said that two recent congressional letters concerning Israel, which inexplicably were sent to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton rather than directly to President Obama himself, were “toothless” and ineffectual. “The letters consist of a platitudinous statement of why the U.S. and Israel are allies but do not criticize the President or convey to him that Congress will oppose his efforts to change the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Koch wrote.
Koch added: “Even more shocking is that some key Senators were unwilling even to sign the toothless letter. One can only speculate why the following Senators declined to sign – John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee; Dick Durbin (D-IL), Democratic Party Whip; Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader, and others. Was it due to agreement with the President’s plan? Was it fear of the President? I suspect agreement.”
In a speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March, 2010, the Prime Minister mentioned a 2,800 year old seal discovered in an excavation in Jerusalem by the Israel Antiquities Authority and currently on loan to the Prime Minister’s office.
“In my office, I have a signet ring that was loaned to me by Israel’s Department of Antiquities . This ring was found next to the Western wall, but it dates back 2,800 years ago, two hundred years after King David declared Jerusalem as our people’s capital.
“This ring is a seal of a Jewish official, and his name is inscribed on it in Hebrew. The name is: Netanyahu. Netanyahu Ben-Yoash. That’s my last name.
“My first name, Benjamin, dates back 1,000 years earlier to Benjamin, the son of Jacob. One of Benjamin’s brothers was named Shimon, which also happens to be the first name of my good friend, Shimon Peres, the President of Israel. Nearly 4,000 years ago, Benjamin, Shimon and their ten brothers roamed the hills of Judea.”