The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) released a new ad today suggesting that the U.S. should immediately bomb Iran. Among those behind the ECI and its ad are the same people who pushed the U.S. into the Iraq war.
The ad from ECI, a group which aims to push pro-Israel [...]]]>
The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) released a new ad today suggesting that the U.S. should immediately bomb Iran. Among those behind the ECI and its ad are the same people who pushed the U.S. into the Iraq war.
The ad from ECI, a group which aims to push pro-Israel voters away from President Obama and is headed up by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, tells viewers in its new commercial that Obama is insufficiently committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and concludes, “Now it’s time to act,” followed by an explosion. Watch it:
ECI’s reflexive hawkishness stems from its hard-right neoconservative disposition. The organization was even born in the same Washington office as the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI), a short-lived right-wing pressure group that pushed for an Iraq invasion. A major player in the Iraq war push, Kristol, for his part, already called for a war with Iran last October.
ECI, whose board members and director have a history of exhorting acts of violence, ignores U.S., U.N., and Israeli intelligence findings in their efforts for yet another U.S. war in the Middle East — this time with Iran.
In Israel, meanwhile, a growing consensus has emerged among former top security officials that a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be counterproductive to Israeli interests. And areport last month suggests that the consensus opposing an Israeli attack on Iran extends all the way to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense chiefs.
A recent report from an influential Washington security think tank said attacking Iran “could backfire.” The U.S. government doesn’t think Iran has made a decision to build a nuclear weapon and seeks to dissuade it from doing so with a negotiated diplomatic resolution, which the Obama administration considers the “best and most permanent way” to end the crisis. A potential Iranian nuclear weapon is widely considered a threat to both the security of the U.S. and its allies in the region, as well as the nuclear non-proliferation regime. U.S., U.N. and Israeli intelligence estimates give the West time to pursue a dual-track approach of pressure and diplomacy.
ECI’s ad and statements, first published on BuzzFeed, make a terrifying case that an Iranian nuclear weapon is imminent — an assertion unsupported by facts. In a 60 Minutes interview in January, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Iran will need “about a year” to build a nuclear bomb and “possibly another one or two years to put it on a deliverable vehicle of some sort.”
UPDATE: J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami responded to the ad:
The people who pushed for war with Iraq are now bent on starting a war with Iran. The security of the United States – and of Israel – is too important to stand idly by while some of Mitt Romney’s biggest supporters press for another war.
Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is a key US and Israeli national security interest. That’s why Americans and Israelis, including prominent national security experts in both countries, support the crippling sanctions and diplomacy that have been the heart of President Obama’s policy.
A new poll commissioned by J Street—an organization which identifies as “for pro-Israel, pro peace Americans”—showed that Jews continued to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates by a 66 to 31 percent margin. In a list of issues, Iran ranked as least important. Israel was identified as the most important issue by only seven-percent of respondents. Issues such as the economy, health care and government spending polled as the most important issues for Jewish voters. Thus Israel related issues remained a relatively low priority for Jewish Americans who, as illustrated in the poll, decided whom to vote for based on issues that closely mirror the entire electorate.
The poll (PDF) reads (my emphasis):
Below is a list of issues facing our country today. Please mark which TWO of these issues are the most important for you in deciding your vote for Congress in November.
Total
The economy ……………………………………………………………………… 62
Health care…………………………………………………………………………. 31
The deficit and government spending ……………………………………. 18
Social Security and Medicare ……………………………………………….. 16
Taxes…………………………………………………………………………………. 14
Terrorism and national security…………………………………………….. 13
Education…………………………………………………………………………… 12
Israel ………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
The environment………………………………………………………………….. 7
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…………………………………………… 6
Illegal immigration ………………………………………………………………. 6
Energy………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Iran…………………………………………………………………………………….. 0
Separation between religion and state ………………………………………-
(Other) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
(None of these) ……………………………………………………………………. 1
(Don’t know/refused) ……………………………………………………………. 0
In the hotly contested Pennsylvania Congressional race which pitted J Street backed Democratic candidate Joe Sestak against the ECI backed Republican candidate Pat Toomey, the results closely mirrored the national poll.
The Pennsylvania poll (PDF) asked a similar question (my emphasis again).
Now, I am going to read you a list of issues facing our country today. Please tell me which TWO of these issues were the most important for you in deciding your vote in the Senate race between Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey.
Total
The economy ……………………………………………………………………… 53
Health care…………………………………………………………………………. 35
Education…………………………………………………………………………… 15
Social Security and Medicare ……………………………………………….. 15
The deficit and government spending ……………………………………. 14
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan………………………………………….. 11
Taxes………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Israel ………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
The environment………………………………………………………………….. 7
Terrorism and national security……………………………………………… 7
Illegal immigration ………………………………………………………………. 2
Iran…………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
(Other) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 5
(None of these) ……………………………………………………………………. 2
(Don’t know/refused) ……………………………………………………………. 4
If the ECI’s attack ads against Sestak had any impact, it’s very difficult to tell from the polling data. Instead, it looks like Jews, both nationally and in Pennsylvania, voted on the same issues that face all Americans. These were the issues that dominated the midterm elections last night. Despite the best efforts of the ECI to make the unconditional support of Israel and confronting Iran’s nuclear program an issue for Jewish voters, their efforts have met with remarkably little success.
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