{"id":53077,"date":"2016-02-10T17:07:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T22:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=53077"},"modified":"2016-02-11T12:18:23","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T17:18:23","slug":"joelieberman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Lieberman: Hillary’s Not So Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Editor’s note: Ed Weintrob, editor and publisher of Long Island’s The Jewish Star newspaper, covered former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s visit to Fleetwood Synagogue in Mount Vernon on Feb. 6. The topic\u00a0was,\u00a0\u201cAmerican Support for Israel \u2014 Fading, Firm or Floundering?\u201d and the former senator spoke with Orthodox Union Executive Vice-President Allen Fagin. The article below appeared in this week’s edition of The Jewish Star.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Hillary Clinton\u2019s track record on Israel is a good one, former Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman told a Westchester shul<\/em> on motzei Shabbos.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be clear, Lieberman wasn\u2019t dishing out an endorsement \u2014 he emphasized that all of the Republican candidates have sold pro-Israel credentials \u2014 but his remarks on Clinton were in contrast to widespread skepticism about the sincerity of her support for the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

The only presidential hopeful whose position on Israel worries Lieberman is Clinton\u2019s Democratic rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Lieberman said Sanders would not necessarily be bad, \u201cbut I don\u2019t have confidence because he doesn\u2019t have a track record.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Clinton, \u201cYou can point to times when she\u2019s done things about Israel that you\u2019ll wonder about, but overall, certainly when I worked with her most closely when she was a senator from New York, she had pretty strong positive feelings about Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s certainly an internationalist,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

While support for Israel used to be largely non-partisan, there is now an overall difference in emphasis between the parties, Lieberman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say this painfully as a Democrat: The Republicans know, mostly because of the Christian evangelicals who constitute such a large part of the Republican Party, that they can go to a Republican rally pretty much anywhere in the country and make a strong statement of support for Israel and there will be loud applause.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of empathy among the average American toward Israel and its plight, [but] we\u2019re beginning to see a difference of favorable feeling toward Israel between the two parties,\u201d although not yet in Congress, he said.<\/p>\n

Lieberman regretted the bad feeling generated during debate over the Iran nuclear deal, and said it should not have been decided on partisan lines. It\u2019s not rational that party loyalty would be \u201cmore important than the substance of the argument,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Lieberman, an observant Jew and lifelong Democrat, was Democrat Al Gore\u2019s vice-presidential running mate in 2000, losing to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. After losing a Democratic primary in 2006, he held onto his Senate seat by running as an independent. He endorsed John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008, and retired from Congress after 2012.<\/p>\n

He was at the Fleetwood Synagogue in Mount Vernon for a discussion of \u201cAmerican Support for Israel \u2014 Fading, Firm or Floundering?\u201d with Orthodox Union Executive Vice-President Allen Fagin.<\/p>\n

Support for Israel in the United States remains strong among leaders in Washington and people throughout the country, but \u201cit is fraying a little bit,\u201d with a challenging drop in support among Jewish millennials, Lieberman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American Jewish community hasn\u2019t ever been of like-mind in support of the state of Israel,\u201d he said, and for a growing number of young Jewish Americans, \u201cIsrael and Israeli security is of lesser concern or frankly of no concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is this wonderful tradition that we have, which I think comes from Torah values and which stays alive even among people who are not Torah observant \u2014 we believe in social justice,\u201d and for many Jews, that takes precedence over concern for Israel, he said.<\/p>\n

Which is why it is vital that the Orthodox community, for which Israel is of paramount importance, flex its political muscles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Orthodox community in America will be playing an increasing role in years to come because [it\u2019s] growing and the other [Jewish] communities are not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even if most Americans, or most American Jews, relax their support for Israel, Orthodox Jews, although a minority of American Jewry, can have an outsized impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganized minorities can make a real difference in our democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that it is important to vote in every election, since politicians watch to see which communities vote.<\/p>\n

The article<\/a> originally appeared in Long Island’s The Jewish Star newspaper<\/a>. Reprinted with permission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Ed Weintrob, editor and publisher of Long Island’s The Jewish Star newspaper, covered former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s visit to Fleetwood Synagogue in Mount Vernon on Feb. 6. The topic\u00a0was,\u00a0\u201cAmerican Support for Israel \u2014 Fading, Firm or Floundering?\u201d and the former senator spoke with Orthodox Union Executive Vice-President Allen Fagin. The article below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJoe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Editor’s note: Ed Weintrob, editor and publisher of Long Island’s The Jewish Star newspaper, covered former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s visit to Fleetwood Synagogue in Mount Vernon on Feb. 6. The topic\u00a0was,\u00a0\u201cAmerican Support for Israel \u2014 Fading, Firm or Floundering?\u201d and the former senator spoke with Orthodox Union Executive Vice-President Allen Fagin. The article below\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-10T22:07:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-11T17:18:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Weintrob\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Weintrob\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/\",\"name\":\"Joe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-10T22:07:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-11T17:18:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/40671ecd383c438e50cac7dac61ffa66\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/40671ecd383c438e50cac7dac61ffa66\",\"name\":\"Ed Weintrob\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ed Weintrob\"},\"description\":\"Ed Weintrob is the editor and publisher of Long Island's The Jewish Star newspaper. He is the founder and former publisher of The Brooklyn Paper.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/ed-weintrob\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Joe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Joe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life","og_description":"Editor’s note: Ed Weintrob, editor and publisher of Long Island’s The Jewish Star newspaper, covered former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s visit to Fleetwood Synagogue in Mount Vernon on Feb. 6. The topic\u00a0was,\u00a0\u201cAmerican Support for Israel \u2014 Fading, Firm or Floundering?\u201d and the former senator spoke with Orthodox Union Executive Vice-President Allen Fagin. The article below","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2016-02-10T22:07:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-11T17:18:23+00:00","author":"Ed Weintrob","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Weintrob","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/","name":"Joe Lieberman: Hillary's Not So Bad - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-10T22:07:26+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-11T17:18:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/40671ecd383c438e50cac7dac61ffa66"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/news\/joelieberman\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/40671ecd383c438e50cac7dac61ffa66","name":"Ed Weintrob","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ed Weintrob"},"description":"Ed Weintrob is the editor and publisher of Long Island's The Jewish Star newspaper. He is the founder and former publisher of The Brooklyn Paper.","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/ed-weintrob\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53077"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53083,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53077\/revisions\/53083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}