Israel Matzav: The Dersh goes after the wrong target

The Dersh goes after the wrong target

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, whose pro-Israel, liberal and Democratic credentials are all impeccable, went after J Street's representatives at the AIPAC conference on Monday for not being pro-Israel. While every word Dershowitz said to J Street's Hadar Susskind was correct, Jonathan Tobin writes that Dershowitz is going after the wrong target.

In 2008, Dershowitz argued that not only were Obama’s pro-Israel credentials impeccable but that it would be a boon to Israel to have a liberal president who backed the Jewish state. That was because he thought that having a liberal icon like Obama who supported Israel in the White House would convince young people and others on the Left that it was okay for them to do the same. But the opposite has happened. The pointless fights that Obama has picked with Israel (while he continues to dither on the threat from Iran) have helped to further discredit Israel among liberals and Democrats while J Street disingenuously stamps his policies “pro-Israel.”

But while he is prepared to get tough with Obama’s J Street spear-carriers, the redoubtable Professor Dershowitz is still unwilling to take on their inspirational leader in the White House. Slashing away at J Street’s stands is nice but if you’re going to keep giving Obama a pass for policies that put the left-wing lobby’s misguided principles into action, you’re wasting everybody’s time. The next time Dershowitz feels the urge to belabor Susskind and the rest of the J Street crowd, he should instead focus his anger on the real offender: Barack Obama.

Indeed.

Israel Matzav: The Dersh goes after the wrong target