Monday, September 12, 2011

If Weprin Is With Soros, Then I'm Not With Weprin. But Is He?

In previous expressions of mine about the Congressional race in New York for District 9 in Brooklyn and Queens, David Weprin seemed to be the better choice based on a better commitment ot Israel as well as specifically the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.  And, yes, loylaty is a value of mine and I do know David since before his Bar Mitzvah.

In the NY Post, as I was alerted by a senior Republican Party contact, it is reported that Weprin is the recipient of big-bucks - more than a half-million bucks:-

Are DC’s donkeys scared? Uh, ya think?

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $483,500; the Democratic Super PAC House Majority, another national group (funded by radical lefty moneyman George Soros), rushed in with another $100,000 --

I would, of course, go along partially with this thinking: as regards Soros

The electorate of the 9th district needs to know that casting their votes for Weprin is approval for Obama and his hostile to Israel agenda and for Soros and his support for Palestinian causes and his mission to destroy America, Israel and the West.

To my mind, though, it would be more of a leverage to have within the Democratic Party a potential anti-Obama member although, true, I am not sure of Weprin's backbone on this.

It took me some time but I finally found this source which identifies House Majority PAC as the 'guilty party'. This source notes that that PAC received $75,000 of Soros money.

Now, it would seem to be convoluted and quite distanced to associate Weprin, who is of course viewed as belonging to the very liberal wing of the Democratic Party, to that money but nevertheless to actually be connected with Soros?  The link is, at present, indirect.  That news above is just a bit misleading. 

As noted here:

The Democratic super PAC House Majority PAC has also bought advertising time in the district as well.

"Has also".  In other words, for their own ideological reasons and perhaps, I am not sure, because Weprin aksed for it and identifies with their own ideological slant.

I know, and we all know, that politics is politics and a lot passes under the ethical wire during a hotly contested election campaign. Nevertheless, this phrasing - "another national group (funded by radical lefty moneyman George Soros), rushed in with another $100,000" - does not directly support a claim that Weprin received Soros money and is not exactly the whole truth.

You can look at this election as one of internal American politics, as one on American foreign policy and as combined. If so, much has to be taken into account. Including Israel.

As I noted here, Weprin

....opposes President Barack Obama’s position that Israel go back to its pre-1967 boundaries. “On this issue, I feel [Obama’s] very wrong,” Weprin told the seniors at the center at 71-25 Main St., saying that Israel’s security “would be in danger” if it went to its original borders. “I hope to be a strong voice … speaking out when the president is wrong.” “I don’t think you can find a member of the House that has a stronger record on Israel than I do,” Weprin said.

In his Jewish Press piece, Weprin wrote:

An issue especially close to my heart is Israel. I have led a number of missions there and also traveled as part of a delegation during the Lebanon War in 2006 to help raise soldiers' morale and transfer food and clothes to shelters. We actually came under rocket attack ourselves while helping out.

As a Democrat, I was very outspoken against President Obama's suggestion that Israel use pre-1967 borders to come to an agreement with Palestinian negotiators. One of the missions I've led to Israel was to Beitar Illit, a city of over 40,000 people. I have seen first hand the communities that would be displaced if Israel would return to pre-Six-Day War borders.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, when he endorsed my candidacy for Congress a few weeks ago, stated clearly and unequivocally that the best way to send a message to President Obama in disagreement with his Mideast policies is through me, not a new member of the Republican majority whose criticism would be dismissed as partisan politics.

I believe Jerusalem is and will always be the capital of Israel. I believe Israelis want peace and are ready now, as they have been for years, to negotiate with a willing partner - but I am unsure that such a partner exists.

It is in America's interest to have Israel as a secure ally in the region, and I will be passionate about explaining that to those in Washington who are uninformed or have been fed lies by Israel's enemies.

Back in July, this is how Weprin was talking:

Democratic Congressional candidate David Weprin criticized President Barack Obama over his Middle East policy and defended his own record in support of the state of Israel.  He accused the president of striving to seem impartial in the long-running dispute between Israelis and Palestinians, especially during Obama’s speech earlier this year in which he called for a return to the pre-1967 borders for Israel.

“I think it was done to send a message to the Arab world that ‘I am trying to be fair,’ that kind of thing,” he said. “I don’t think you can equate the two because it’s not a question of being neutral. It’s a question of Israel is the only ally we have had for so many years. I don’ t think it is a moral equivalent.”

Weprin said that he thought it was untenable for Israel to retreat to its pre-67 borders, noting that the country has had those boundaries for more years than it had its previous borders...“I wouldn’t want to give credence to some of the adjoining countries that haven’t even officially recognized the state of Israel,” he said. ”Israel voluntarily gave back the land and what happened right after that? There were Kaytusha rockets being shot from the very homes that they gave up on Greater Israel...I thought it was outrageous the way he treated Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was at the White House,” he said...if Weprin were to win, he would be the only Orthodox Jew in Congress, and he hit back over the notion that he was not a strong supporter of Israel or that he would be unwilling to challenge the leader of his party.

And this:

Weprin added, “I don’t think we should be going back to the pre-’67 boundaries. It’s clearly been part of Israel for many, many years.” That’s a distinct break from President Obama’s position, but one many Democrats — especially those from New York — have also made.

So, where does all this information leave me?

I would wish that David announce that the politics of George Soros are not his politics and his outlook is certainly not his. I do not need a strong supporter of Israel in Congress who might be influenced by the radical anti-Zionism that is at the base of Soros' thinking, which has been, for all intents and purposes, almost anti-Semitic.

I do think Weprin is a better candidate for Israel and that the fact that many of the opposition from within the more Orthodox Jewish constituency is centered on his pro-gay marriage vote indicates for me a less-than-enthusiastic orientation to judge Weprin over his Israel position, I am reserving any pro-expressions of support until he clarifies those Soros links.

If the Soros money item and Weprin's pro-gay say is what makes you decide, so be it. But there are other considerations.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

they are smearing weprin

israel must not become a partisan wedge issue...it is dangerous for israel and for the dem party

and yes he is pro gay rights...find me a dem in ny who isnt...so what...they are a large (and wealthy) constituency

he is being painted by jewish republicans as not being pro israel enough...an that is wrong

Ruth said...

what about neturei karta - are they involved with the candidate in any way?