J4O: Barack Obama has asserted that, in the arsenal of US power, diplomacy has been underused by the current administration. There have been reports of administrative opposition to Israel negotiating with Syria, and of intentionally missed opportunities to engage diplomatically with Iran. Even Defense Secretary Gates urged more spending on diplomacy. What are the prospects for a reinvigorated State Department under Obama, and would you rejoin?

INDYK: The Bush Administration has managed to significantly strain our “hard power” (i.e. our armed forces), and badly tarnish the American brand name around the world. Consequently, U.S. influence has been seriously undermined and it will therefore be essential for the next president to turn to diplomacy to rebuild our ability to protect and promote American interests globally. Barack Obama's victory will do much to convince the rest of the world to turn a new page and give America the benefit of the doubt again — as his recent trip to the Middle East and Europe underscored. But it will take the “vigorous diplomacy” that he has promised the American people to take advantage of the opening that his victory will surely produce. In many ways it will be a “new age” of diplomacy and that will inevitably reinvigorate the government department responsible for doing diplomacy.

As for whether I will rejoin, that's a premature question. Let's do whatever we can to get Senator Obama elected president first.

J4O: How do you think the U.S. under an Obama presidency will support Israel if, to defend against rockets, she needs to undertake another large-scale military campaign in Lebanon or tighten the Gaza embargo?

INDYK: I think the biggest question in the minds of American voters who care about the survival and well-being of Israel is whether the next president will stand by Israel when the chips are down, or join in the usual chorus of condemnation from much of the rest of the world. Barack Obama has demonstrated a real understanding of how narrow are Israel's margins of security, how complicated its security dilemmas have now become, and how critical the American president's role is in helping Israel deal with these challenges. I am confident that he will be a steadfast friend of Israel when he sits in the Oval Office.

J4O: Given that the infrastructure for self-determination by the Palestinian Authority has severely deteriorated during the Bush presidency, what do you think is a plausible time frame for a serious resumption of the two-state peace process?

INDYK: The next president will inherit an ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process that is operating now, more or less, on five levels: final status negotiations (between the president of the PA and the Israeli prime minister and between negotiating teams headed by the Israeli foreign minister and the former Palestinian prime minister); fulfillment of Road Map commitments (i.e. freezing settlement activity and fighting terrorism); improving conditions in the West Bank (the “Blair Project”); rebuilding Palestinian security capabilities (the “Dayton Project”); and Arab state involvement under the Saudi peace initiative. The next president's challenge will be to pick this process up and move it forward on all five levels simultaneously because progress on one level will reinforce progress on the other levels. In other words, there is no reason to wait, and in fact an urgent need to make progress if Hamas and its Iranian patron are to be prevented from doing to the West Bank what they have done to Gaza.

Barack Obama has made clear that reinvigorating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process will be a priority of his presidency. This is the right thing to do for American interests but it will also promote Israel's interests since Israel needs to rid itself of the burden of occupation in a way that will ensure the vacuum is filled by a responsible and capable Palestinian peace partner. The United States has a critical role to play in that process, a role that was neglected for much of the Bush Administration — to Israel's detriment.

J4O: Israel has begun an electric vehicle project, led by Shai Agassi, which WIRED magazine reported was initiated at at a meeting at your Saban Center. This ambitious project involves a new infrastructure for recharging and exchanging batteries and is successful could be replicated around the world. Successful electric personal transportation is also a grave economic threat to many oil-producing states. Do you think Israel would ever bargain this innovation away for normalized relations with the Gulf states?

INDYK: Shai Agassi's plug-in project is brilliantly conceived and is bound to have a huge impact on gasoline consumption in the industrialized economies. I was very happy to see that Barack Obama has made the development of plug-in cars an important plank in his alternative energy agenda.

Nevertheless, I think the question is based on a false premise. While it's true that the Arab oil producers will want demand for oil to remain high, they themselves are investing heavily in alternative energy sources. Unlike Iran, which needs high oil prices in the short term to cover over the regime's economic mismanagement and buy off discontent, the Gulf Arab oil states would prefer a more predictable and stable price level that would come from a reduction in demand. They already enjoy riches beyond the dreams of avarice. They know that regardless of alternative energy development there will always be sufficient demand for their low cost oil and they would prefer to harbor this valuable resource for future generations. They face a much bigger threat than plug-in technology and that comes from the security threat posed by neighboring Iran's nuclear ambitions. Since “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” these Arab states are developing a common interest with Israel in peace and stability in the region they share. That's something that an Obama administration will be able to put to good use in combating the threat from Iran.

J4O: Finally, what motivated you to join the JewsForObama group at My.BarackObama.com, and how has that experience been? Do you have any suggestions as to how we might attract other prominent Jewish Americans?

INDYK: I don't think it's a secret that I was providing Middle East advice in my private capacity to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Like many Hillary supporters the transition to supporting Barack Obama was not an easy one for me because of the emotional commitment I had to her candidacy. I made a point of going to hear Obama's speech at AIPAC and was deeply moved by it. I had previously been impressed by his judgment on foreign policy issues but this speech did much to persuade me of his own emotional commitment to the things that I believe in as a proud American Jew. So I signed on and went looking for my chevra and was delighted to find them at JewsForObama! As for attracting other “prominent” Jewish Americans, try investing a dime (i.e. invite them to join). Those who understand how important it is that Barack Obama becomes our next president will surely be happy to sign up.

Six Prominent Chicago Jews

In Monty Python's SPAMALOT, there is a song: You cannot succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews. The attacks on Obama virally spread by email had nary an impact in Chicago. There, Barack has been adopted by the Jewish community, as a politician with a yiddishe kopf.

This week, the Chicago Jewish News did a full page story on Barack Obama's history with and support from Chicago's Jewish community, which is a very fun read. We reprint it here.

In the article, you will find great quotes like:

• The Honorable Abner Mikva: “People are going to say that Barack Obama is the first Jewish president.”
• Newton Minow: “We find Obama to be truly outstanding. If you just look around, you can see he's got many many Jewish friends,” and
• Illinois Senator Ira Silverstein: “People can read what they want to in the press, but I know him personally and I can testify to his pro-Israel views.”

We are not so sure about Sarah Palin

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The selection of a virtually unknown governor as the Republican VP choice generated a lot of news, and a lot of loshon hara, of the sort we have been fighting against when used against Senator Obama. However, there are enough facts on the ground that respected media and trusted columnists are verifying:

McCain only met Gov. Palin once prior to the selection. This is more a reflection on McCain's decisionmaking ability then on her qualifications for the job.

Palin’s conservative social views are totally out-of-step with those of most American Jews. She opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest. She has stated that mankind does not play any role in climate change. She wants schools to teach creationism, undermining the separation between church and state. Even as we can cheer a female candidate, we can dread what she represents as a symbol to Republicans.

Palin has no track record on Israel. The sum total of Palin’s record on Israel is that she signed a boilerplate Alaska-Israel friendship resolution passed by the Alaska state legislature. To our knowledge, she had never made a public statement about Israel as of the date she was nominated.

Palin remains an enthusiastic member of a church supporting anti-Jewish views. Just two weeks before she was nominated, Palin was at Wasilla Bible Church when her pastor “glowingly introduced” David Brickman, the head of Jews for Jesus; Brickman proceeded to explain that Israelis curse Jesus whenever they say his name and that terrorist attacks against Israelis are the result of God’s judgment against unbelievers. Palin did not (and to our knowledge has not) repudiated these teachings.

On the central economic questions governing the future of our nation, including the mortgage crisis, Palin's experience — as mayor of a town which sought federal funding to build a sports center, and as a governor with a $5B surplus from oil and gas revenues — does not predict she can make up for the economic smarts John McCain has admitted lacking.

The McCain campaign dropped various clues that they might choose Joe Lieberman or Eric Cantor as the running mate. Then, McCain chose Palin. According to Fred Zeidman, co-chair of Jewish outreach for the McCain campaign, Sen. John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate engendered “a lot of consternation” among Jewish delegates to the Republican National Convention.

We think the process and the outcome both merit “consternation".

New Jewish Political Groups Emerge

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The field of Jewish organizations working to support Barack Obama in our community is getting crowded! In addition to the National Jewish Democratic Council, and the Obama campaign's own Jewish Americans outreach effort, two new organizations have recently emerged.

The Jewish Alliance for Change, a 501(c)(4) founded by Doni Remba, and hosted at Jews4Change.org, will conduct an innovative multimedia outreach initiative to educate the Jewish community about the issues at stake in the presidential campaign and how they connect with authentic Jewish values and interests, to promote better understanding of the policies advocated by Senator Obama, and to defend against smears in our community.

Jews Vote, a PAC founded by Mik Moore and Ari Wallach, brings a new set of electronic organizing tools to the campaign. Their first action is to have you sign up to communicate to your own networks of family and friends. Check out these wonderful networking tools and sign up at JewsVote.org.

Finally, please note that we are not affiliated with these organizations. JewsForObama.com is a shoestring operation run by unpaid volunteers, and while we only raise money for the Obama campaign, other organizations can fund-raise for their own staff salaries, media buys, and technology development.

Breaking News: Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch Endorses Obama

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Edward Koch

Ed Koch has evolved from a well-liked iconoclastic Jewish mayor of NYC to a loud supporter of George Bush. At 83, it is good to have him sort of back! Quoting from his column at the very conservative NEWSMAX website:

“So, the issue for me is who will best protect and defend America.

I have concluded that the country is safer in the hands of Barack Obama, leader of the Democratic Party and protector of the philosophy of that party.

Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks. It includes defending the public with respect to their civil rights, civil liberties and other needs, e.g., national health insurance, the right of abortion, the continuation of Social Security, gay rights, other rights of privacy, fair progressive taxation, and a host of other needs and rights.

If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin.”

A Niggun for Shabbat by Cantor Lorel Zar-Kessler

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This issue's Shabbat thought is provided in song by Cantor Lorel Zar-Kessler of Congregation Beth-El of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Click on the links for MP3 files, and you can sing along with her (in Hebrew or English). There is also a wordless melody to hum along to. (Technical note: Control-T turns on looping in Windows Media Player.)

Gesher Tzar M'od

Kol Ha'olam kulo, gesher tzar m'od V'ha-ikar Lo l'facheyd k'lal

All the world is a very narrow bridge. The essential thing is not to be afraid at all.

Wordlessly

She writes: “I first learned this teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav, and the melody by Baruch Chait, 20 years ago and still remember the power with which it struck me. Bridges are conduits of passage, movement, always associated with travel. Bridges can be beautiful and awe-inspiring, but a narrow bridge can cause anxiety and fear.

All of humanity is traveling, moving forward through time, and if the bridge is narrow, we cannot move forward without meeting, without engaging our neighbors. Do we know them? Can we trust them? What if they push or take up too much room? Should we push first? We might not like who we're following or who is following us, and this can create fear in our hearts and in our beings.

So, how do we keep moving? How do we keep taking steps? We sing! We sing our way out of our fear; we remember that the bridge, though narrow, is taking us forward and even upward; and we open our hearts in heartfelt song to Hashem, the Almighty who dispels our fear.”

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