As someone who is pro-Israel and Jewish, I have come across a number of people who share my same views, but often do not share the same view on Barack Obama. I have found this quite troubling, especially since many of these individuals fall in line with Obama.
I am writing this diary with some of the preliminary finds (through the help of friends) to use if you are caught up in such a discussion. I will try and provide updates when I can, and if anyone has additional information, please feel free to comment.
In The Jewish Voice, David Broida says:
In all his time in the US Senate, on every military appropriations and foreign aid bill for Israel, Barack Obama voted exactly in tandem with AIPAC's position on the proposed legislation. His voting record is no less supportive of Israel than the records of Senators McCain or Clinton.
From the March 3, 2008 issue of Newsweek:
Senators Clinton, Obama, McCain and Governor Huckabee have demonstrated their support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,
AIPAC president Howard Friedman wrote to NEWSWEEK. (AIPAC says all three senators have strong congressional voting records on issues important to the U.S.-Israel relationship.) I am hoping to find these voting records, but have come up empty.
An Article in the Jewish Post provides details of Obama's pro-Israel voting record as well as of the
bills which he sponsored or co-sponsored which AIPAC supported and/or was
involved in writing.
However, Jews can take solace in the fact that Obama does have some staunchly pro-Israel supporters. U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida House Member, recently wrote an e-mail to Jewish leaders, saying "what has always struck me about Senator Obama – and this is one of the reasons that I have endorsed his candidacy for president – is that a love for Israel and a desire to keep the Jewish people secure is evident not just in his work, but also in his heart."
The St. Petersburg Times http://www.politifact.com/... politifact.com quotes a spokesman for AIPAC:
All of the leading presidential candidates ... have demonstrated a fundamental commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship," said Joshua Block, a spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), America's pro-Israel lobby. "All three senators have strong congressional voting records on issues important to the pro-Israel community.
Here is Obama's June speech at AIPAC:
I hope that these help anyone who may be in a similar situation and would also educate some of you who didn't know about Obama's position on Israel.
Update: Per ShadowSD's diary a comment that would be helpful (from dsm42)
As I said above, I think this is a fantastic resource and hope to use it extensively.
And I know Israel is a bit of a hot-button issue on this site, but if we want to represent Obama's positions as accurately as possible, I have a concern regarding this statement:
he would be the most evenhanded President regarding the conflict that we have ever had
To many Jewish people, that is code for "he would treat suicide bombers the same as he'd treat Israeli civilians." We all know that's not the case, and that caring for the Palestinian people does not mean that he supports suicide bombers. But we have to make that clear. In fact, paraphrasing former president of AIPAC Steve Grossman,
Obama will be the best President for Israel in U.S. history
That does not mean that he will support Israel like Bush did, verbally supporting everything they did, but not taking significant action to create peace. To my mind, it means that while he will steadfastly support Israel's security and right to exist, he will work hard to create a real and lasting peace in the Middle East that will bring security to all civilians there.