Hillary Gives A Speech Or This Post Has Nothing To Do With Health Care

Max Fisher at The Atlantic with the round-up

Jeffrey Goldberg:

If you’re trying to figure out why J Street, the left-wing pro-Israel group, came into existence, just take a look at the schedule for this week’s AIPAC conference, at the Washington Convention Center. The list of speakers, apart from the usual suspects (Bibi, Hillary, and the like) includes analysts and advocates from such organizations as the American Enterprise Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, CAMERA, and so on — the full range of conservative-leaning think tanks. It is true that the convention includes a few analysts not associated with Republican Party views on the Middle East — Wendy Chamberlin from the Middle East Institute, Brian Katulis from the Center for American Progress — but these two are talking about Pakistan, which is not a core issue of the Middle East conflict

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I am not writing this in order to knock such speakers as Robert Kagan, Andrea Levin, Elliott Abrams,  Dan Senor (who just wrote a great book about Israel)  Bret Stephens, Bill Kristol, and Alan Dershowitz. I agree with much of what many of these people have to say about the Middle East (and it is true that from time to time I myself have been accused of being a bloody-minded neocon!) But the dearth of speakers who approach the most contentious issues of the Middle East from a left-Zionist perspective is noticeable. Most American Jews voted for Obama; most American Jews are liberal; and most American Jews understand the difference between the legitimate security needs of the State of Israel and the theological, political and economic needs of the small minority of Israelis who have settled the West Bank. So would it hurt to bring in speakers from the Meretz Party, from the kibbutz movement, from the New Israel Fund, from the Reform Movement, so that the AIPAC attendees could hear for themselves the views of Zionists who disagree with the policies of Israel’s right-wing parties?

Ben Sarlin at The Daily Beast:

Arriving at AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) in one of the toughest months for Israeli-U.S. relations in years, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knew just the magic words to win over the audience Monday.

“Our commitment to Israel’s security is rock solid, unwavering, enduring, and forever,” she said, to instant applause and a standing ovation—the second of her speech, and not the last.

Introduced by AIPAC’s executive director, Howard Kohr, who called on the crowd to “set aside the past week and work and pledge to solve problems together,” Clinton’s speech offered a number of reassurances that America’s spat with Israel was far from a full-scale crisis. Among them: a long and detailed condemnation of Iran’s government, citing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial, and 9/11 conspiracy theories.

“The United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” she said. Clinton emphasized that Obama’s outreach to Iran would lead to tougher consequences if progress was not made on the nuclear issue.

“We know that the forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States of America,” she said, drawing another standing ovation.

Other red meat: a renewed call for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006.

Nevertheless, Clinton did not back down from the administration’s objections to expanded Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the cause of the latest flareup between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“As Israel’s friend, it is our responsibility to give credit when it is due and to tell the truth when it is needed,” Clinton said. She emphasized the point, but her words were received quietly.

Gideon Rachman at Financial Times:

In fact, Hillary got several standing ovations. And this was not at the price of watering down her message. Although she made several reassuring statements about the enduring nature of America’s committment to Israeli security, the secretary of state also reiterated American opposition to further settlements and said that America would push back “unequivocally” when it disagreed with Israeli policy.

It’s difficult to tell whether this really represents a toughening of American policy to Israel. In some sense, all that Hillary, Biden et al are doing is reiterating, a longstanding US position. Yes, the language has got tougher – but that may simply reflect irritation at the crass way the Israelis made their announcement on Jerusalem, while Biden was in town.

Jennifer Rubin at Commentary:

The speech was interesting on several notes. First, the portion of it devoted to the Palestinian conflict dwarfed the discussion on Iran, reflecting — I think — quite clearly where the interests and focus of the administration lie. Second, it appears as though Clinton was stung by accusations against her less-than-resolute defense of the Jewish state so much that this speech was an attempt at personal rehabilitation. Is this her pride speaking or rather a careful maneuver in the interest of her political future? Both, perhaps. Third, there is — as with so much concerning the Obama administration — a chasm between generalities and the administration’s actions and policies. How to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons? No mention of “all options” being on the table. How to achieve peace when Hamas won’t renounce violence? How is being a resolute friend to Israel congruent with bashing Israel in public over an issue that Clinton just said belonged to the final-status stage of negotiations? Those who were uneasy before heard little, in concrete terms, to reassure them. Those worried about Clinton’s reputation in the Jewish community are hoping that this is enough to set things right. But one speech to AIPAC does not a reputation make; it is her acquiescence in Obama’s gambit of distancing the U.S. from Israel that is the nub of the problem and will render her a less than popular figure among pro-Israel Americans

Spencer Ackerman:

Covered her speech here, here, here and here. Caught up with J Street for a response here. I don’t honestly know what I expected, as I wrote this morning. She had a deft moment where she reversed the typical construction on the right for why it’s bad for the U.S. to link the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its interests in the Middle East by making the meta-point that it’s bad to expose daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Or, in other words, Not in fronna de goyim! Clinton is very cultural comfortable with Jews, and speaks both our dialects and our subtexts with fluency.

She didn’t apologize for the settlements flap, nor did she play it up, which is probably what she needed to do. She did, however, reinforce the point that the inexorability of demography threatens Israel’s future as a democratic Jewish state and makes the status quo unsustainable. And she didn’t get much applause for that, although everything she said about Iran met thunderous real-life-retweeting.

Phyllis Chesler:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just spoke to AIPAC, where 7,500 people had gathered to hear her preach the word. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Israel Project, Clinton condemned both the Palestinian “culture of hate” and its “incitement” to murder Jews based on falsified information — and the Israeli “settlement” construction which, she claimed, “undermines America’s unique ability to play a role” in the peace process.

The two are not the same and are not morally equivalent; further, Israel does not exist in order to allow America to claim prowess in taming the Jewish state — even as it fails to confront Iran and jihad in a meaningful way. Indeed, when has America castigated the Palestinians for their grave and terrible “incitement” in the way they have just castigated the Israelis for their “settlement” (or rather apartment unit) construction?

Clinton said that “new construction in East Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need.” Ahem. There is only one side that wants negotiation and a two-state solution. That side is Israel. The Palestinians remain divided — and are only united in their refusal to accept a Palestinian state except if that state will occupy space “from the river to the sea,” which would mean the destruction of the only Jewish state.

For the record, Clinton stressed that America was a strong supporter of Israel. She said: “Our commitment to Israel’s security and Israel’s future is rock solid. … Guaranteeing Israel’s security is more than a policy position for me. It is a personal commitment that will never waver.” (Hope she means it. Hope she means it more than she “meant it” when she embraced Suha Arafat who had just finished excoriating the Israelis for poisoning the Palestinian women. God I hope she means it so much that Obama will sell the bunker busters, Apache helicopters, and refueling systems to Israel without which Israel cannot defend itself against Iran — alright, will not have the option of confronting Iran on Iranian soil).