Obama: Strained Ties With Israel Won't Affect Jews' Support for Democrats

Jewish community isn’t concerned with one issue, U.S. president tells the Forward, insists that deal’s detractors will see its value once ‘smoke clears.’

Haaretz

The current strain between the U.S. administration and the Israeli government over the Iran deal will not affect the historical ties between the U.S. Jewish community and the Democratic Party, President Barack Obama said in an interview with the Forward, published on Monday.

In the interview, which dealt with the various technical points of the deal and the concerns its opponents have raised against it – among them Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Obama reiterated that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is a familial one.

“There are always going to be arguments within families and among friends,” Obama told the Forward.
Regarding the U.S. Jewish community, Obama insisted that it doesn’t base its decisions on a single issue, and has concerns that go beyond the Iran deal. These are issues which are traditionally raised by the Democratic Party, such as student loans, housing, poverty and women’s health, Obama said.

Obama added, however, that the Jewish community – which he called “intellectually vigorous and morally grounded,” will realize the value of the Iran deal in the end, once “the smoke clears in the debate.”

Despite his conviction that the ties between his party and the Jewish community won’t suffer from the Iran deal debate, Obama did voice concerns over the U.S.-Israeli relationship turning into a partisan issue, and criticized “some of the activities that have taken place up in Congress,” which “involved politics rather than policy.” Obama noted in particular Netanyahu’s Congress address against the deal in March (“not the wisest thing to do,” said the president) and the Republican opposition to the deal, announced before its details were published.

Obama compared attacks on Jewish members of his administration to incidents in the African American community, “where there’s a difference on policy and somebody starts talking about, well, you’re not black enough, or you’re selling out. And that, I think, is always a dangerous place to go.”

Obama told the Forward that he owes his political accomplishments to the support he received from American Jews.
“It’s not just that I’ve received votes from the Jewish community; it’s that I have received ideas, values, support that helped shape me into the person I am. And the friendships that I have are ones that will last me a lifetime — and those include friendships with people who are opposed to this deal,” he said.

The interview with the Forward, the largest Jewish newspaper in the United States, was Obama’s second salvo directed at gaining the Jewish community’s support for the deal, after a live online address to U.S. Jews on Friday.

In the address, Obama said that those debating the nuclear deal with Iran must keep in mind that “we’re all pro-Israel,” in a criticism of verbal attacks against lawmakers who have voiced their support of the deal.

“I challenge those who say there was heated rhetoric from both sides,” Obama said, pointing out the “appalling” attacks Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) suffered after he announced his support for the deal last week.

“The commitment to Israel is sacrosanct, non-partisan, and always will be,” Obama said in the webcast, co-hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The U.S. Congress has until September 17 to vote on a resolution of disapproval of the Iran deal, which would eliminate Obama’s ability to waive all sanctions on Iran imposed by the U.S. Congress, a key component of the agreement.

Obama has promised a veto if it is passed by the House and Senate.