Not that the president needs that much persuasion!
On Monday he held two closed-door meetings with his Jewish supporters. The first was with leaders of Jewish organizations such as the ADL and the American Jewish Committee. The second meeting was with Jewish major Democratic Party sugar daddies, including movie executive Haim Saban, who bankrolled Obama’s presidential campaigns and is expected to bankroll Hillary Clinton’s campaign despite her anti-Israel history.
Also on hand for the second meeting were representatives of J Street, the anti-Israel group falsely claiming to support the Jewish State, originally funded by George Soros and given legitimacy by Barack Obama and Congressman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.).
The Washington Times’s Dave Boyer spoke to an attendee at the first meeting who reported that the president did not change any minds. Said the source:
The folks who walked in supportive are still supportive, and the folks who were concerned are still concerned. We’re hoping by expressing these concerns to the president, who’s really calling the shots, that we can have an impact on the terms of a final deal.
J Street was restricted to the second meeting because even Obama didn’t want them spewing their anti-Israel invective during these sensitive Iran deal discussions with the Jewish community. But Iran was not the only thing discussed. Algemeiner reported what happened at that meeting:
Members of a group of Jewish supporters of the Democratic Party who met with President Barack Obama this week urged him to remove the long-standing American veto protection of Israel at the United Nations. The group, affiliated with the left-wing lobby group J Street, pledged to support the president within the Jewish community in the event of a Security Council resolution calling for the creation of a Palestinian State.
The exchange took place in the second of two meetings Obama held with American Jewish leaders to discuss the current negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, as well as other regional issues. According to a source who was in the room, one J Street supporter told the president that if he decided to back a Palestinian state resolution over Israeli objections, “let us know first, and we’ll do the legwork for you, in the community… so you’re not going to come in cold.” Among the J Street supporters who were part of the delegation meeting with Obama were Alexandra Stanton, Lou Susman and Victor Kovner.
The atmosphere at that second meeting was described as pleasant and cooperative, in marked contrast to the first meeting, described by one source as “ungiving, very stern and tense.”
When you read about such goings-on, it’s worth remembering what Rep. Steven King (R-Iowa) said a few weeks ago. “Here is what I don’t understand,” he said. “I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their president.” This is just one more example.
Cross-posted at The Lid
