JTA: Republican Jewish Coalition curious about Carter meeting

RJC curious about Carter meeting

By Eric Fingerhut · March 31, 2009

The Republican Jewish Coalition wants the White House to "disclose the role of former President Jimmy Carter" in advising the administration on "critical foreign policy issues." That's after Seymour Hersh, in an article in this week's New Yorker magazine, reports that Carter and President Obama discussed the Middle East for an hour during a meeting the two men had shortly before the inauguration.

The article says Carter refused to get into any details of his meeting, but did write in an e-mail that he hoped the new President “would pursue a wide-ranging dialogue as soon as possible with the Assad government.” An understanding between Washington and Damascus, he said, “could set the stage for successful Israeli-Syrian talks.”

"Carter believes that pressuring Israel will result in peace between Israel and those still openly dedicated to her destruction," said RJC executive director Matt Brooks. "If this is the kind of advice that President Obama is turning to, that is indeed of great concern to us, to the Jewish community, and to the vast majority of Americans who support our ally Israel."

The RJC didn't mention the most fascinating paragraph in the Hersh article, which deals mostly with the prospects of a Syrian-Israel peace deal. Hersh reports that the Obama transition team struck a deal to convince Israel to halt the Gaza operation before the inauguration, while then-Vice President Dick Cheney was calling Obama "pro-Palestinian" to the Israelis:

"The Obama transition team also helped persuade Israel to end the bombing of Gaza and to withdraw its ground troops before the Inauguration. According to the former senior intelligence official, who has access to sensitive information, “Cheney began getting messages from the Israelis about pressure from Obama” when he was President-elect. Cheney, who worked closely with the Israeli leadership in the lead-up to the Gaza war, portrayed Obama to the Israelis as a “pro-Palestinian,” who would not support their efforts (and, in private, disparaged Obama, referring to him at one point as someone who would “never make it in the major leagues”). But the Obama team let it be known that it would not object to the planned resupply of “smart bombs” and other high-tech ordnance that was already flowing to Israel. “It was Jones” -- retired Marine General James Jones, at the time designated to be the President’s national-security adviser -- “who came up with the solution and told Obama, ‘You just can’t tell the Israelis to get out.’ ” (General Jones said that he could not verify this account; Cheney’s office declined to comment.)

The full RJC press release is after the jump:

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http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/03/31/1004144/rjc-curious-about-carter-meeting

National security is at stake.

His foreign policy expertise is not one of them. Run away from him. We need a new approach but no advice from Carter.

Remember his (and Mika's daddy's) tin ear where the Shah of Iran was concerned? I realize that Mika's daddy is one of Obama's early mentors but really. I mean really.

Don't listen to Carter unless you are building a house.

How about giving Gypsies, Armenians, Bahais and Zoroastrians a turn?

designed to get people to respond to their direct mail pitches. Anyone who sends money to this shitty little identity-politics outfit deserves to be laughed at.

going around talking about peace.

is just plain CURIOUS!!! :wtf:

Do I have to list any more names?

These guys aren't even Neocons -- they're the GOP in a yarmulke.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/24111/norm-coleman-takes-republican-jewish-coalition-job

Coleman takes Republican Jewish Coalition job
By Chris Steller 1/22/09 11:50 AM
Ready for a steak ... and a job.

Norm Coleman went out for a steak dinner in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 after the State Canvassing Board declared that his challenger, Al Franken, had received 225 more votes in the recount of Minnesota’s Senate election. But it turns out he wasn’t just crying in his steak. Coleman’s companions that night were Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), and Republican lobbyist (and RJC board member) Wayne Berman. Now comes news that Coleman has taken a paid consulting position with the RJC.

“The senator needs to earn a living while the contest is going on,” said Coleman spokesman Mark Drake. “I think our supporters recognize that Sen. Coleman is not a millionaire.” Drake insisted the move doesn’t mean Coleman is downhearted about his chances for success in a potentially expensive election contest he filed that begins in earnest before a three-judge panel on Monday.

Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party was quick off the mark to point out that the RJC has cut checks for Coleman before: specifically, chipping in to cover travel costs on seven trips, including Coleman’s first as a U.S. senator in 2003.