Israel’s Next President
Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain’s visit to Israel this week provoked a great deal of discussion in both the Israeli and Diaspora Jewish press. To be expected, conservative commentators praised McCain’s initiative as a sign that the Arizona legislator would be a better President for Israel than the current Democratic front-runner, Senator Barack Obama, while liberal Jewish pundits opined on the lack of difference between them in matters concerning Israel.
France 24′s Observers hosted a lively forum on the greater subject in which I took part, together with Jewcy’s Daniel Koffler, Haaretz US correspondent Shmuel Rosner, and conservative Jewish blogger Neo-Neocon. What emerges is an exceedingly balanced discussion that will give you an excellent sense of the parameters of the debate currently taking place about what kind of American President would be best for Israel. Big up to France 24′s Roi Ben-Yehuda for shouting us all out.
I had this awful thought today as I was reading about McCain calling Purim the Jewish Halloween (no, really, he did):
Did he bring Lieberman along with him and make those “gaffes” that Lieberman could rescue him from because he’s going to go for the “bipartisanship” option and make Lieberman his VP candidate? That way, instead of getting busted for pandering to the evangelicals, he could placate them by choosing a conservative Jew and play the “hands across the aisle card”. Even if it’s not actually across the aisle.
Also, I found it interesting that Neo-Neocon discussed McCain’s trip in terms of its utility in showcasing McCain’s foreign policy expertise without mentioning the fact that in actuality it’s been a gaffe-filled exhibition of McCain’s appalling ignorance.