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Former World Jewish Congress chairman Edgar Bronfman endorses "tough idealist" Obama:
Here's some of Bronfman's piece:Bronfman, a former head of the World Jewish Congress, wrote in the piece titled "Israel's Best Interest is a Morally Strong America" that an honest broker was needed to push Israelis and Palestinians toward a two-state solution.
He said the Illinois senator could fill this role, being "a tough idealist who has the courage to imagine an America that may inspire hope, not fear, in the Middle East and around the world."
Conversely, Bronfman scathingly criticized President George W. Bush's policies in the region, which he said McCain would continue, as only increasing the dangers Israel faces from its enemies. The philanthropist said the most immediate of them was from a nuclear Iran, adding that, "Under the Bush administration, conversations with the Iranians began only at the end of May 2007 and have been badly mishandled."
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate is the towering example of his poor judgment. Palin's ignorance of public affairs is monumental. Especially disturbing to the Jewish voter should be her willing acceptance of the campaign assignment of demagogy, which has stirred up racism and hate. The prospect of our having a 72-year-old president in poor health raises the real possibility that Palin could be our president, a thoroughly frightening thought. (I am well aware, in my eightieth year, of the flagging energy of any 72-year-old.) McCain's choice of Palin was a bid to the extremists in the Republican party, not the considered choice of a man who puts his country first.
Barack Obama is the leader who can begin to undo some of the damage done by Bush's policies. His background as an American who has lived among diverse cultures makes him sensitive to the cultural and religious motives that shape conflicts. He is cerebral, measured, calm, and pragmatic. By his character, he will engage these issues with more than stonewalling and weapons. He is brilliant in his choices of advisors. He is a tough idealist who has the courage to imagine an America that may inspire hope, not fear, in the Middle East and around the world.