Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine
Clinton’s VP Pick Under Fire for anti-Israel Record
Hillary Clinton’s pick for running mate, Virginia senator Tim Kaine, could hurt her support with pro-Israel voters as the senator’s record on Israel comes under fire.
Kaine, the Democrat vice presidential candidate, strongly supported the US deal with Iran, boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, was endorsed by the J-Street lobby, and was one of only 17 senators who refused to sign a letter urging the US president to increase the US military aid package to Israel.
Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, issued a harsh critique of Clinton’s pick.
“Whether it’s his vote for the Iran deal, which paves the way to a nuclear-armed Iran, or his proud support of the progressive anti-Israel J Street agenda which earned him their enthusiastic endorsement, Senator Kaine has shown how out of touch he is on the dangers facing our country,” Brooks said in a statement. “A Clinton-Kaine White House would continue the same failed policies that have made the U.S. and our allies around the world less safe.”
The official PAC of J Street, a lobbying group with a reputation for hostility against Israel, donated $133,382 to Kaine’s previous campaigns, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Brietbart News also reported that Kaine appointed to his state’s immigration commission Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, an organization later described by federal prosecutors in 2008 “as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.”
The American Islamic Forum For Democracy, an anti-terror Muslim organization, criticized Kaine’s lack of vetting.
“Omeish has repeatedly represented an Islamist agenda (political Islam) in his activism. The ideology of Islamism runs against the interests of a strong national immigration policy and American security,” AIFD said in a 2007 statement.
“Whether this will overcome the strong predisposition of the Jewish community to vote for the Democratic ticket, no matter who is on it, remains to be seen,” Abraham Miller, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, wrote. “Nonetheless, the choice of Tim Kaine gives ammunition to those who stand firmly on the non-traditional side of the political divide in the Jewish community.”
Approximately 70 percent of American Jews vote Democrat in US elections.
Hillary Clinton’s Jewish outreach director meanwhile attacked Trump’s record, telling The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Trump’s willingness to accept a one-state solution in Israel “contravenes longstanding US foreign policy, it’s contravening the GOP platform, it contravenes Israeli policy.”
“There has been a tremendous amount of reaction, both independent as well as from the Republican side, who have actually really called out their position and said that it’s been a problem,” said Sarah Bard, a top Clinton staffer.
Clinton favors a two-state solution. The Democrats are expected to ratify a broader than usual platform at their convention this week that will recognize Palestinian rights to sovereignty and “dignity.”
