Ari Fleischer Accuses Obama of Bullying Israel
The former White House press secretary for the Bush administration has assailed President Obama for “pushing Israel around” and forcing the Jewish state to “make harmful, unwise concessions.”
Addressing a group of dual Israeli-U.S. citizens Tuesday night at a get-out-the-vote event in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Ari Fleischer questioned Obama’s commitment to Israel.
“I do not ever want to have a president in the Oval Office who will make us scratch our heads and wonder, ‘does he or does he not have Israel’s back,’” said Fleischer, alluding to President’s Obama’s pledge, last March, at the AIPAC Conference in Washington. “I don’t want to have a president in the Oval Office who makes me wonder what next will he do to put pressure on Israel and make Israel make harmful, unwise concessions.”
At Tuesday night’s sparsely attended event, sponsored by relatively new iVoteIsrael organization, Fleischer urged a mostly senior crowd of about 80 people to register to vote, coming on a day two leading U.S. polls showed Obama and his Republican challenger locked in a dead heat.
“You’re the size of Dayton, Ohio. You’re the size of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,” Fleischer told the Israeli residents gathered. “You’re a longer plane trip from New York from those places, but you’re equally important.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
