Barack Obama should have expected it. After all, the Chicago Sun Times reported recently that “Obama’s camp is well-aware”[1] of the ongoing Israeli survey called The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates, and the low marks Obama is getting from the Zionist panelists.
The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates is a special project published by Haaretz, a leading Israeli daily newspaper. It appears in the section of the newspaper called Rosner’s Domain. Shmuel Rosner is Haaretz’s chief U.S. correspondent, and is based in Washington DC.[2]
Obama’s March ranking in the Israel Factor was 3.88. The scale is 1 to 10: 1 being ‘Worst for Israel’ and 10 being ‘Best for Israel’.
In April, Obama’s ranking jumped to 5.13[3], which placed him ahead of only Republican candidates, Mike Huckabee and Chuck Hagel. Senator Hagel is currently ranked last with a score of 3.75 because he believes that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to Middle East peace. According to the Israel Factor scale, this position makes Hagel the current ‘worst’ presidential candidate for Israel. But what if it makes Hagel the best candidate for the United States? Think about it.
It is not a question of whether the Israel Lobby exists in the United States and influences U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East. Its existence is incontrovertibly evident. The only question that remains unanswered is how to accurately quantify the threat that the Israel Lobby poses to the sovereignty of the United States and the scant remaining liberties and freedoms of the American people. The fact that there is an Israel Factor to consider regarding U.S. presidential candidates and our nation’s presidential elections is all the evidence needed to conclude that the Israel Lobby has crossed well beyond the constitutional threshold of free speech, and has clearly encroached into the realm of espionage.
The impact and overreaching ability of the Israel Lobby to infiltrate and influence U.S. politics was made more evident recently by a particular question asked only to Barack Obama during the April 26, 2007 Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate held at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. This was an Israel Lobby loyalty test and Barack Obama failed it.
The moment I heard the question, I knew it was a set up. As soon as I heard NBC anchor and debate monitor Brian Williams ask it, I said out loud, “You had better say Israel or you’re done Obama!
Here’s the transcript.
Brian Williams: We have to do a little bit of housekeeping here, and that is this. Our NBC stations across the state of South Carolina have been carrying this live on over-the-air and cable television. We’re going to say goodbye to them. We will continue on MSNBC, on cable and the Internet with our conversation.
This brings us into the final half-hour of tonight’s conversation, and we’re going to shift categories now to what we are calling non-Iraq foreign policy.
Senator Obama, what are America’s three most important allies around the world?
Senator Obama: Well, I think the European Union as a whole has been a long-standing ally of ours. And through NATO, we’ve been able to make some significant progress. Afghanistan, in particular, is an area where we should be focusing. NATO has made real contributions there. Unfortunately, because of the distraction of Iraq, we have not finished the job in terms of making certain that we are driving back the Taliban, stabilizing the Karzai government, capturing bin Laden and making sure that we’ve rooted out terrorism in that region. We also have to look east, because increasingly the center of gravity in this world is shifting to Asia. Japan has been an outstanding ally of ours for many years, but obviously China is rising, and it’s not going away. They’re neither our enemy nor our friend. They’re competitors. But we have to make sure that we have military-to-military contact and forge enough of a relationship with them that we can stabilize the region. That’s something I’d like to do as president.
Brian Williams: Senator, thanks. I’ll give up a follow-up. I didn’t hear you mention Israel, and I ask because there is a quote attributed to your name. You said recently, “No one is suffering more than the Palestinian people.” Do you stand by that remark?
Senator Obama: Well, keep in mind what the remark, actually, if you have the whole thing, said. What I said is, nobody has suffered more than the Palestinian people from the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel, to renounce violence and to get serious about negotiated peace and security for the region. Israel has been one of our most important allies around the world. It’s the only established democracy in the Middle East. But the United States has to get engaged in this region, and that’s something that this president has not done. That’s something that I intend to do.
Brian Williams: Time is up, Senator.
Please consider the follow-up question by Brian Williams. It was written on a cue card. It was prepared in advance. It was scripted. Obviously it was anticipated that Obama would most likely not mention Israel as one of America’s top three allies – why would he? The fact is that Israel is not and has never been one of America’s top three allies.
I didn’t hear you mention Israel, and I ask because there is a quote attributed to your name. You said recently, “No one is suffering more than the Palestinian people.” Do you stand by that remark?
And why did MSNBC find it necessary to weave an unrelated, yet factually accurate quote by Obama regarding the current suffering of the Palestinian people into its attempt to measure Obama’s loyalty to the Zionist state? What or who could have prompted the producers and editors at MSNBC to troll in such murky water? Clearly, the Palestinian people are suffering. So why wouldn’t Obama stand behind that statement?
I didn’t hear you mention Israel.
And I ask because there is a quote attributed to your name.
You said recently…
“No one is suffering more than the Palestinian people.”
Do you stand by that remark?
The original question was Senator Obama, what are America’s three most important allies around the world?
In short, Barack Obama answered, the European Union, NATO, and Japan / the greater Far East. These would not have been my answers, but they are good answers all the same.
I didn’t hear you mention Israel.
So what Brian Williams! So what! I didn’t hear you or any of your producers identify the name[s], title[s], location[s], and contact information of the person[s] that suggested, approved, and inserted this treasonous question, on behalf of a foreign nation, into a national presidential candidate debate.
Best for Israel, Worst for Israel - the crisis in America has reached critical mass. Best for Israel or worst for Israel should have no bearing whatsoever regarding who is elected President of the United States. Best for the United States, Worst for the United States is all that should be considered.
Know your enemy, and remember the words of Thomas Jefferson.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.
It’s well past time for some refreshing in this lost Constitutional Republic.
If the Israel Lobby and its media operatives are allowed to continue to infiltrate and frame our political debates and sabotage viable candidates that they deem not the best for Israel, then they have the power to control and censor the political messages heard in the United States. Consequently, the American people will continue to have a tainted and corrupted opinion of their political candidates, and unbeknownst to the casual voter, will cast votes in favor of pre-approved candidates rather than the best candidate for the United States of America
This is the climatic prelude to tyranny. It is unlikely that it can be stopped peacefully. Only the blood of patriots and tyrants will break the stranglehold that grips our nation.
Make no mistake about it – this was a set up prompted by elements and / or operatives of the Israel Lobby. It’s a classic example of how it operates. There was nothing benign about it. You are now a witness.
[1] Chicago Sun Times, Obama to offer pro-Israel views at Chicago gathering, Lynn Sweet, March 1, 2007, http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/278222,CST-EDT-sweet01.article, [Accessed April 30, 2007]
[2] Haaretz.com, Rosner’s Blog, Shmuel Rosner, August 28, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=618587&listSrc=Y&onlyOne=Y, [Accessed April 30, 2007]
[3] Haaretz.com, Rosner’s Domain: A special project, The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates, April 27, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerPage.jhtml, [Accessed April 27, 2007]
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