DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler Respond to Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler Respond to Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum

Washington, DC— This afternoon on a conference call, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler responded to the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum in Washington, DC.

To listen to audio of the call, please click on the following link: http://my.democrats.org/page/-/audio/calls/DWSWexler430ConfCall120711.mp3

On the call, Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said:

The Jewish community has always stood strong to care for the elderly and the sick, to fiercely defend equality and civil rights, and invest in education to give our children the brightest possible future. When we look at what President Obama is doing on these domestic policy issues, there is no question where he stands on the values that matter most to the Jewish community. And there is nothing, I mean nothing in the Republicans’ right wing social agenda that speaks to our community’s values, especially when it comes to protecting a woman’s right to choose, the separation of church and state, and investing in our children’s future.

The President’s unwavering commitment speaks for itself: Because of his leadership, we have raised U.S. military assistance to unprecedented levels, sending Israel the largest-ever security assistance funding in 2010, and raising that to $3 billion for 2011. Contrast that with what Mitt Romney and other leading Presidential candidates said less than a month ago when they advocated starting Israel’s foreign aid budget at zero.

On the call, Robert Wexler said:

What has occurred at the RJC is nothing less than the theater of the absurd. Absurd because Mr. Romney and others use allegations such as timid and weak in the context of President Obama and in the context of our relationship with Israel and the world, and nothing could be further from the truth. President Obama of course made an extraordinarily bold and courageous decision in terms of our ultimate elimination of Osama bin Laden.

The objective fact is that the security, cooperation, and security relationship between the United States and Israel has never been better. This President, President Barack Obama has ushered in an era of extraordinary strategic and military cooperation.

"I Can Hardly Remember a Better Period of American Support and Cooperation..." --Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak

"Ehud Barak Interview.” FoxNews, (Axelrod, David, Campaign 2012, as cited in “Democratic Voter,” IV, October 20, 2011, 1). 

 

 Barak on Barack - Asked on Fox News whether he thought Israelis were "disenchanted" with President Obama, Barak said: 

 

 "No. Our countries are good friends. And I'm the minister of defense. I can tell you that I can hardly remember...a better period of support, American support and cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us than what we have right now.
  

 "The President didn't say that Israel should go back to the borders of '67. He made it very clear that he thinks that Palestinians deserve a state of their own. We also believe in two states...[a] secure Israel side by side with a emilitarized Palestinian state that will basically have the same area that the West Bank and Gaza Strip had before '67 with certain swaps, with understanding of the transformation on the ground." 

 [Over the next 15 months, Republicans will do their best to distort the President's record -- particularly on Israel. We've already seen them mischaracterizing the vision he's laid out for a new era of peace in the Middle East. It's up to supporters like us to set the record straight.