Ambassador Dennis Ross has served the United States during the Reagan,  Bush 41, and Clinton administrations. He has maintained a non-partisan image, working closely with Republican and Democratic administrations on the Middle East and Russia. Until now, that is. Dennis Ross is a senior foreign policy advisor to Obama’s campaign, and traveled with him on his tour of Europe and the Middle East.

At a conference entitled “The Jewish Vote and the 2008 Presidential Election” at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, Amb. Ross explained why he has chosen to support Senator Obama.

Ross gave two major reasons: the stakes of the election, and Obama’s temperament and skills.

In my research, I stumbled upon this correspondence, which is simply too interesting to to withhold from the attention of our readers. It is a correspondence between the Union General Benjamin F. (Beast) Butler and the editor of The Jewish Messenger, and New York publication. Isaacs wrote to Butler objecting to Butler’s specification of the religion of five Jews among captured blockade runners. I picked up on a deep-seated Christian anti-Semitism coursing through Butler’s words. Isaacs eloquence and clever argument blunt Butler’s insinuation that Jews are less American and less committed to the Union than Christian Americans.

Historian Michael Oren finally released his anticipated article on ramifications of the upcoming election for Israel. Prof. Oren had been approached about writing the article for The Journal of International Security Affairs, and expected to find that there were no major differences between Obama and McCain. He said that he was surprised to discover that there were indeed profound differences despite their support for the Israeli-American alliance. Oren said that the Obama camp disputed his findings, so he sat down with representatives of the campaign and showed them the evidence. There were significant differences between the candidates on their approach toward settlements, Hamas, and especially the root cause of Middle Eastern conflicts.

 The US-Israel Partnership: Forks in the Road

Michael Oren, Fall 2008

Supporters of Israel are intensely interested in which of the two presidential candidates, John McCain or Barack Obama, is “best” for the Jewish state. Of course, “best” is a subjective concept, colored by whether one regards settlements as beneficial or disastrous for Israel, for example, or the creation of a Palestinian state as essential or deadly. The word also assumes a substantial degree of familiarity with the candidates’ positions on issues that impact Israel either directly or collaterally. Attaining such clarity from politicians is difficult even in normal times. But during an election year, it is especially daunting. Speeches by presidential hopefuls geared to special constituencies, statements from commentators and aides, misquotes and gaffes-together these can cloud the contenders’ platforms, particularly on matters as complex and controversial as the Middle East. Moreover, more than a little disinformation on Obama and McCain has been disseminated by opponents and interested parties, further obscuring their true views.

The New Republic’s The Stump  picked up on a strange comment in a Sky News article about the new footage of John McCain as a POW.

The video portrays the Republican as a hero but the message may be tarnished as he is filmed smoking a cigarette.(italics mine- lb)

Who would even think of criticizing a man who held out for his comrades against brutal torture for having a drag on a cigarette? I really don’t think that this would cause anyone to miss the emotional contained in the footage.

Marc Lynch, professor at the Elliott School at George Washington University, is an expert on Arab media, especially as it relates to America’s war on terror. He blogs at Abu Aardvark, and his site is worth reading if trends in Arab media, especially in Iraq, interests you.

He spoke at the Mortara Center in Washington, D.C., today about the Sunni Awakening in Iraq, in a talk entitled “Rethinking Iraq’s Awakening”.  Lynch does not dispute that the Awakening was a decisive point in the war, as Sunnis turned against Al Qaeda. However, argues Lynch, there is little concensus on what actually caused the Awakening.

Despite the recent riots in Acco, there is good news about the Israeli Arab situation. The IDF is reporting that the number of Arab recruits is up dramatically this yuear. It is slightly unclear when they are including Christian Arab, Muslim Arab, and Bedouin Israelis in their figures and when they are referring to the populations separately. Israeli Arabs serve almost exclusively in the 585, the desert reconnaisance battalion (the article below calls it a brigade, but it is not). Bedouins serve in a variety of regular units. The 585 is split almost evenly between Arabs and Bedouins, and they do not get along. Historical rivalries are not far below the surface in the battalion, resulting in fights, thefts, and taunting. The army is aggressively pursuing Christian Arab recruits, as they do not have the connection to Islam that make it less likely for Muslim Arabs  to enlist. Towns such as Daburiyya have had residents murder local soldiers, and recruits from such communities have to return home without their uniforms.

Bedouin towns are far more supportive, and communities such as Beit Zarzir and Hujirat, almost all young men serve in the army.

It should be noted that I commanded the officer interviewed below during his basic training. Haaretz reports: 

The number of Israeli Arab recruits to the IDF has increased dramatically in the first nine months of 2008, official figures obtained by Haaretz indicate.

The rise in the Bedouin recruitment rate is attributed to Bedouin’s difficulty in finding well-paid jobs outside the military and problems with the local authorities. The IDF has also improved its treatment of Bedouin army veterans and is helping them find employment.

Once again, it seems that McCain outpointed Obama when he needed to score a knockout. Obama held his own throughout, and might have had the edge on the economic questions. But McCain relished the foreign policy section to talk about his long experience, and to present himself as “a steady hand at the tiller”.

McCain certaintly was lucky to have former Navy Chief ask a question, and the moment they shared put McCain military service briefly back in focus.

Both men danced around the question of whether they would send troops to support Israel if Iran attacked. 

All in all, a conventional debate that was not at all the game-changer McCain needs.  

In a discussion about health care, Obama said that companies would all move to a state with loose regulations if consumers could buy across state lines. He likened the scenario to banks moving to Delaware, with its loose regulations. Loose regulations are not popular words in the contemporary financial crisis, and tying Biden to it, indirectly, seems like a mistake Obama regretted while he was in the middle of making it.

In his discussion in tonight’s debate of the government’s potential to aid the economy, Obama brought up computers. This is a not-so-subtle tactic meant to reinforce to voters that McCain, who barely uses computers, is out of touch with modern technology.

Keep in mind that McCain can play the POW card on this one- McCain’s injuries make it very difficult for him to use a keyboard.

Biden claimed in the vice-presidential debate that  Pakistani nuclear weapons can hit Israel and the Mediterranean.

IFILL: Let’s move to Iran and Pakistan. I’m curious about what you think starting with you Sen. Biden. What’s the greater threat, a nuclear Iran or an unstable [Pakistan]? Explain why.

BIDEN: Well, they’re both extremely dangerous. I always am focused, as you know Gwen, I have been focusing on for a long time, along with Barack on Pakistan. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons. Pakistan already has deployed nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s weapons can already hit Israel and the Mediterranean.

As Campaign Spot at National Review Online points out, Pakistan and Israel are slightly more than 2,000 miles away from each other. The Pakistani’s nuclear-capable missile with the longest range is the Ghauri, which can reach 1,000 miles with poor accuracy. There’s not much to say about this except that Biden, the supposed foreign policy expert, is simply wrong.

Last night’s debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden (transcript here) is tough to call. Both sides are claiming victory. It seems that both Biden and Palin won, possible since they were not really competing against each other.

Biden had to make sure that he did not put his foot in his mouth or come across as mean or aggressive. He remained amiable and gracious throughout, passing up several chances to attack Palin’s misstatements. His tears during the mention of his first wife’s fatal car accident came across as honest and spontaneous, and he attacked McCain, not Palin.

Palin’s task was more difficult. After two awful weeks for McCain, because of both the economy and Palin’s incomprehensible answers during her Couric interview, a poor performance for Palin could put the nail in the coffin of McCain’s campaign and rule out any national political career for Palin. What’s more, she was going up against a veteran senator with long and deep foreign policy experience. She was able to remain on the offensive for much of the debate, and even took control of the topic being discussed at times, albeit in a sometimes awkward fashion. She was able to project her personality through the television that endeared her to conservative and rural Americans. And, most importantly, she had an answer for every question (even if it wasn’t the question being asked), and did not freeze up or say that she did not know about a certain subject.

Both candidates had their misstatements, but there was one that continues to stand out in my mind.