Who is truly pro-Israel? Joel Pollak, the Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois 09. Here's a letter from Joel to the JPost.
Sir, – In his recent op-ed (“More fear and loathing on the campaign trail,” Washington watch, October 21), Douglas Bloomfield accused me of turning Israel into a “partisan wedge issue” in my race for US Congress. In fact, J Street – which has donated tens of thousands of dollars to my opponent, Jan Schakowsky – was founded to create a wedge not just between Republicans and Democrats but also between the US and Israel.I'd love to see his pro-Israel Congress. Maybe if the Republicans do well enough on Tuesday it will happen - at least in the House.The bipartisan consensus on Israel is in danger because the Far Left of the Democratic Party believes that Israel is the root cause of conflict in the Middle East. That is why recent polls show that 85 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians, while only 48% of Democrats do.
In his article, Bloomfield also made several factual errors, which were likely fed to him by the Schakowsky campaign. I’ve never “boasted” about Pam Geller’s endorsement, for example. Nor did I tell him that Barack Obama has “made it acceptable to hate Israel.”
Bloomfield plucked that quote from an earlier speech, without providing the context, and misrepresented what I actually told him via e-mail: “I believe President Obama has the potential to be a friend of Israel, but has not behaved as one, unfortunately.”
It amazes me that far-left groups, which maintain that a true friend of Israel is one that criticizes Israel, refuse to criticize their good friend Barack Obama.
It amazes me that we Americans do not demand more of representatives from strong pro-Israel districts, and that we have been content to see them meet the lowest common denominator of pro-Israel support.
A pro-Israel Congress would not just vote for foreign aid. A truly pro-Israel Congress would vote to de-fund the UN Human Rights Council. It would deny funding to the Palestinian Authority until it recognized Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
A truly pro-Israel Congress would criticize President Obama for singling out Israel. A truly pro- Israel Congress would have provided assistance to the Iranian democracy movement. A truly pro-Israel Congress would declare that the US will support Israel in the event it must launch a preemptive strike against Iran. A truly pro-Israel Congress would demand that the international community act now to free Gilad Schalit.
That is the kind of pro-Israel Congress I want to create. I want to be a leader on the floor of the House – not just a vote.
JOEL POLLAK
Republican challenger US Congress, 9th District of Illinois
Who is truly pro-Israel?
