Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 22, 2010 Page: 5 of 24

TEXAS JEWISH POST #SINCE 1947
OPINION
April 22,2010 I 5
Palin's policies reflect
Americans' spirit on Israel
By Benya
Korn
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — The Obama admin-
istration's tilt against Israel, its tacit acceptance
of a nuclear-armed Iran and its weak approach
to combating Islamic terrorism all pose a direct
challenge to lewish Americans.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin has described the "Obama
doctrine" in U.S. foreign policy as
"coddlingourenemieswhilealien-
ating allies." Palin has emerged as
the leading public voice in opposi-
tion to President Obama's danger-
ous new direction.
For these reasons, my col-
leagues and I are launching a
national organization of lewish
Americans for Sarah Palin, supported by the
new Web site jewsforsarah.com — Home Page
for lewish Independents.
IASP comprises academic, religious and
community leaders who are dedicated to pro-
moting consideration of Palin's policy positions
in the wider American lewish community. We
are unconnected to any political campaign or
fundraising organization.
We find Palin's positions on Israel, Iran, na-
tional 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 seri-
ous, substantive and politically mainstream.
Though she is not at present a candidate for
any office, Palin's track record in public office
has been exemplary and has withstood the test
of the most demanding scrutiny of investigative
news media.
In her time, Margaret Thatcher was first
dismissed as unintelligent, unsophisticated,
the wrong gender and incapable of taking her
place among the world's statesmen. In the end
she proved her detractors wrong and restored
Britain's economic, political and national se-
curity institutions to their former greatness.
Today and for posterity, she is reckoned among
the handful of pivotal world leaders of the late
20th century.
Likewise, Ronald Reagan was looked upon
initially with scorn both by American lews and
even by many conservatives. Commentary mag-
azine Editor Norman Podhoretz wrote recently
that his early support of Reagan's 1980 presi-
dential candidacy was greeted by his friends
with derisive remarks about "this B-movie
star." In the end, conservatives came to respect
LETTER
and then revere Reagan. In the 1980 election,
60 percent of American lews deserted Presi-
dent limmy Carter, with most of them voting
for Reagan. Podhoretz sees a parallel to Sarah
Palin. So do we.
In recent days, prominent lewish lead-
ers and other lewish political figures have
publicly challenged President Obama's
foreign policy in terms that were un-
imaginable only a few weeks ago. Former
New York City Mayor Ed Koch, a lifelong
Democrat, has excoriated the president for
"demeaning and slandering" Israel,
mm "There is a foul whiff of Munich and
appeasement in the air," Koch has writ-
ten.
Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham
Foxman has raised the prospect of a lewish
march on Washington to protest Obama's tilt
against Israel. World lewish Congress Presi-
dent Ronald Lauder has taken out full-page
ads in major American newspapers to criticize
Obama for pressuring Israel to retreat to the
"indefensible borders" of 1967. U.S. Sen. loseph
Lieberman (I Conn.), chairman of the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs Committee, has characterized the presi-
dent's refusal to include militant Islam in his
list of terror promoters as "offensive," and said
it "contradicts thousands of years of accepted
military and intelligence doctrine to 'know
your enemy'"
President Obama's disgraceful personal
treatment of Israel's prime minister on his of-
ficial visits to Washington and the ugly per-
sonal tone that the president has injected into
U.S.-Israel relations has angered even many of
his supporters and driven Obama's popular-
ity to an all-time low among the Israeli public.
The suddenn ess of the president's change in his
policies toward Israel, after having campaigned
vociferously in 2008 as a friend of the lewish
state, has caught many in the American lewish
community off guard. No longer.
We believe it is time for American lews to
declare independence from President Barack
Obama, and we believe that Gov. Sarah Palin's
heartfelt and unflinching support for America-
Israel friendship reflects the true spirit of the
American people, among whom love and re-
spect for the lewish state has never faltered.
Benya min Korn is the former executive editor of the Jewish Expo-
nent of Philadelphia and a veteran Jewish community organizer.
Jews must stay on
visionary Obama's side
PASADENA, Calif. (JTA) — When Presi-
dent Obama took office last year, our coun-
try seemed to be teetering. Eight years of war,
monstrous deficit spending, a breakdown of
diplomacy and a disdain for sci-
ence and civil liberties welcomed
the new president into office.
A mere 15 months later our na-
tion, while by no means complete-
ly healed, surely is on its way out of
this dark period. The economy is
improving and jobs are slowly be-
ginning to return, stabilized by the
needed, albeit not popular, stimu-
lus package.
Doing the hard work that is
needed in government is often unpopular,
but President Obama does it anyway, and
his hard work is paying off.
President Obama passed health care re-
form, possibly the greatest domestic policy
achievement in a generation. He is stand-
ing up to the greed and self-interest of Wall
Street. He supports a woman's right to
choose and successfully appointed Justice
Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. He
is committed to ending the proliferation of
nuclear weapons. He takes global climate
change seriously. He values government
transparency. He is working to reintroduce
America into the world as a partner for
peace and justice after eight years of isola-
tion on the world stage.
And then there is Israel. President
Obama has committed himself to the Jew-
ish people by working for a two-state solu-
tion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Has
it gone smoothly so far? Certainly not.
However, since all parties to the con-
flict agree that there is no military solution,
President Obama, a statesman capable of
understanding nuance and complexity, is
precisely the kind of leader we need now.
He has surrounded himself with Middle
East experts, including many Jews, and is
listening to the American Jewish commu-
nity, the majority of whom support a two-
state solution.
American Jews overwhelmingly sup-
ported Obama in the 2008 election, and the
majority continues to support him because
his vision for our country — a vision of in-
clusion, strength through diplomacy, peace
and providing for the neediest among us —
By Joshua
Levine Grater
resonates deeply with Jews. The battle for
reform and improvement, especially in the
face of fear and misinformation, is a long
one that requires perseverance. We would
be wise to embrace perseverance
when considering whether we
should abandon the president af-
ter only one year.
Ancient Jewish tradition in
Pirke Avot, the Ethics of our An-
cestors, teaches that "while we
are not called upon to finish the
job, we are certainly called upon
to never cease from trying." For
Jews, this applies to the task of
building a nation that lives up to
the ideals of both our Jewish sages and our
American founders.
There are voices who feel threatened by
the accomplishments of the past half centu
ry in the civil rights movement, the feminist
movement, the environmental movement
and the gay rights movement. They decry
any effort by government to address serious
problems like joblessness, health care and
the environment. They seek communities
only with those who think and believe as
they do. These are the political forces that
hope Sarah Palin will run for president.
With the challenges we face, including
the threat of Iran to both the United States
and Israel, we need an American president
who is methodical, smart, courageous and
willing to do what is right even if it is not
popular. We need a leader who understands
the workings of the world, has the respect of
the world and, when needed, can stand up
to the world. Being U.S. president is more
than ignoring those with whom you dis-
agree and then attacking them if they do
not capitulate. Being the president requires
vision, courage, perseverance and respect
for diversity.
The Jewish community knows that
Presid ent Obama is this kind of leader, and
we should continue to support him in his
efforts to better our country and be a true
friend to Israel.
Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater is the spiritual leader of the
Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center and serves on the
national advisory board of J Street. The views expressed
here are solely those of the writer and do not represent any
of the organizations he serves.
'One bad egg should not spoi the dozen../
Dear Rabbi Raskin,
Although I know you were acting with
the best of intentions, I was nevertheless up-
set by your editorial in the TJP [April 8, p.
5]. In point of fact, the Texas School Board
adjustments are effecting many important
positive changes for the Jewish community,
especially for portrayals of Israel and against
anti-Semitism (reversing years of false ma-
terial inserted by Islamic lobbying groups).
There are Jewish groups that have been
working hard on this issue, including many
right here in Dallas.
To endanger this effort by a simplistic
outcry against certain jingoistic Christians
is counterproductive and, frankly, poten-
tially insulting to the bulk of the Christian
community who are overwhelmingly sym-
pathetic to Jews in America. Your outcry
reminds me of other shrill protests against
"the removal of Jefferson" by the textbook
board (and so forth) that are not only fac-
tually inaccurate, but overlook the recent
strong drift of relativism and lack of his-
torical rigor in Texas textbooks that many of
these reforms are designed to correct. It is
2010, not 1964, and the dangers world Jewry
now faces are almost exclusively from mili-
tant Islam, not Texas Christian school board
members.
William F. Katz, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain
Sciences
University of Texas at Dallas
(The opinions expressed are my own and
not necessarily those of UTD )