She got some criticism from liberals for 'getting to the right of Trump' in her speech by saying we can't be neutral but must take Israel's side.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/03/21/hillary-clinton-gets-to-donald-trumps-right-on-israel/
But I think another way to look at it is that she was smart politically here. You do have to give her this flexibility sometimes. There is going to be a general election and Democrats from Obama to Elizabeth Warren are trying to pivot to it.
Actually the speech really ticked off Republicans as well because it enabled her to hit Trump form the Right on an issue the GOP have thought they owned after the tough relationship President Obama has had with Netanyahu.
This is not because Hillary doesn't see Netanyahu as a pain in the ass and big part of the problem.
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/21/11278230/hillary-clinton-aipac-israel
"But this was an AIPAC speech, so the idea is to appeal to the Pro Israel lobby. And it ticked off the GOP. Hillary is having it both ways. She was Obama's point person on the hated Iran deal which Netanyahu was apoplectic about and now she is able to present herself as more pro Israel than Trump."
"An hour after Hillary Clinton delivered a stem-winder at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference, Republicans issued a statement denouncing her as a phony. According to the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, the speech was a "whitewash" of her anti-Israel record as secretary of state."
"It's easy to understand why Republicans would be so quick to pounce. A large majority of Americans tell pollsters -- year after year -- that they're on Israel's side. So attacking the Democrats as being weak on the Jewish state is good politics."
"There's more to it than just that. The party must feel compelled to speak out against Clinton on Israel, because at least rhetorically she has been more pro-Israel than the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump. Clinton says she would never be neutral when it comes to Israel's security. Trump has said he would be neutral in his pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
"Clinton has touted her friendship with an Israeli-American donor, Haim Saban. Trump famously told the Republican Jewish Coalition last year that he didn't need the group's money."
Clinton is fluent in the wonkish language of modern Zionism. She opposes BDS, or the "boycott, divest and sanction" movement in vogue these days on college campuses. Trump never gets this specific.
"But the main reason Republicans attack Clinton on Israel is because their party expected to be the beneficiary of President Barack Obama's own policy of publicly distancing America from Israel on issues like settlements, Iran and other matters of Middle East security. After all, Clinton was Obama's secretary of state in his first term. She began the negotiations -- at first kept from Israel -- that led to the nuclear deal with Iran. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Aipac itself lobbied against that deal last year. "
"She delivered a shrewd speech, managing to position herself as a pro-Israel stalwart despite a record of supporting the Iran deal, helping Obama distance the U.S. from Israel, and taking point on many of the administration's attacks on Netanyahu," said Noah Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, a group that has criticized Obama's Middle East policies."
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-03-21/clinton-s-convenient-evolution-on-israel
As the Vox piece notes, she is not talking about any change in policy, but she played up the AIPAC yesterday a little.
Trump for his part later on gave a speech where he claimed that all Arabs are raised to be terrorists so you could say he got back to her Right there.
http://time.com/4267086/donald-trump-aipac-speech-israel/
For his part, AIPAC criticized Trump for his sharp anti Obama comments.
The president of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC rebuked of Donald Trump on Tuesday, scolding him for his harsh comments about President Obama.
“Last evening something occurred which has the potential to drive us apart, to divide us,” AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus said during the final day of the organization’s annual policy conference in Washington. “We say, unequivocally, that we do not countenance ad hominem attacks and we take great offense against those that are levied against the president of the United States of America from our stage.”
“While we may have policy differences, we deeply respect the office of the United States and our president, Barack Obama,” she added, to resounding applause. “There are people in our AIPAC family who were deeply hurt last night and for that we are deeply sorry.
“We are disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with or condone.”
"Obama, Trump said, “may be the worst thing that ever happened to Israel.”
"The current White House has treated Israel “very, very badly,” Trump added.
"The comments — and the reaction to them — threatened to undercut AIPAC's position as a non-partisan group. The organization already found itself on the other side of the White House after last year’s landmark nuclear deal with Iran, and support for comments like Trump’s could have further jeopardized its standing among Democrats in Washington."
In other news: pace the Brussels attacks, the issue of terrorism is going to come back to the fore:
"Don’t assume terror attacks will help Donald Trump."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/03/22/dont-assume-terror-attacks-will-help-donald-trump/
I think it does and doesn't help him. It helps him in the primary but not in the general as it true for most of the stuff he says and does.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/03/21/hillary-clinton-gets-to-donald-trumps-right-on-israel/
But I think another way to look at it is that she was smart politically here. You do have to give her this flexibility sometimes. There is going to be a general election and Democrats from Obama to Elizabeth Warren are trying to pivot to it.
Actually the speech really ticked off Republicans as well because it enabled her to hit Trump form the Right on an issue the GOP have thought they owned after the tough relationship President Obama has had with Netanyahu.
This is not because Hillary doesn't see Netanyahu as a pain in the ass and big part of the problem.
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/21/11278230/hillary-clinton-aipac-israel
"But this was an AIPAC speech, so the idea is to appeal to the Pro Israel lobby. And it ticked off the GOP. Hillary is having it both ways. She was Obama's point person on the hated Iran deal which Netanyahu was apoplectic about and now she is able to present herself as more pro Israel than Trump."
"An hour after Hillary Clinton delivered a stem-winder at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference, Republicans issued a statement denouncing her as a phony. According to the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, the speech was a "whitewash" of her anti-Israel record as secretary of state."
"It's easy to understand why Republicans would be so quick to pounce. A large majority of Americans tell pollsters -- year after year -- that they're on Israel's side. So attacking the Democrats as being weak on the Jewish state is good politics."
"There's more to it than just that. The party must feel compelled to speak out against Clinton on Israel, because at least rhetorically she has been more pro-Israel than the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump. Clinton says she would never be neutral when it comes to Israel's security. Trump has said he would be neutral in his pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
"Clinton has touted her friendship with an Israeli-American donor, Haim Saban. Trump famously told the Republican Jewish Coalition last year that he didn't need the group's money."
Clinton is fluent in the wonkish language of modern Zionism. She opposes BDS, or the "boycott, divest and sanction" movement in vogue these days on college campuses. Trump never gets this specific.
"But the main reason Republicans attack Clinton on Israel is because their party expected to be the beneficiary of President Barack Obama's own policy of publicly distancing America from Israel on issues like settlements, Iran and other matters of Middle East security. After all, Clinton was Obama's secretary of state in his first term. She began the negotiations -- at first kept from Israel -- that led to the nuclear deal with Iran. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Aipac itself lobbied against that deal last year. "
"She delivered a shrewd speech, managing to position herself as a pro-Israel stalwart despite a record of supporting the Iran deal, helping Obama distance the U.S. from Israel, and taking point on many of the administration's attacks on Netanyahu," said Noah Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, a group that has criticized Obama's Middle East policies."
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-03-21/clinton-s-convenient-evolution-on-israel
As the Vox piece notes, she is not talking about any change in policy, but she played up the AIPAC yesterday a little.
Trump for his part later on gave a speech where he claimed that all Arabs are raised to be terrorists so you could say he got back to her Right there.
http://time.com/4267086/donald-trump-aipac-speech-israel/
For his part, AIPAC criticized Trump for his sharp anti Obama comments.
The president of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC rebuked of Donald Trump on Tuesday, scolding him for his harsh comments about President Obama.
“Last evening something occurred which has the potential to drive us apart, to divide us,” AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus said during the final day of the organization’s annual policy conference in Washington. “We say, unequivocally, that we do not countenance ad hominem attacks and we take great offense against those that are levied against the president of the United States of America from our stage.”
“While we may have policy differences, we deeply respect the office of the United States and our president, Barack Obama,” she added, to resounding applause. “There are people in our AIPAC family who were deeply hurt last night and for that we are deeply sorry.
“We are disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with or condone.”
"Obama, Trump said, “may be the worst thing that ever happened to Israel.”
"The current White House has treated Israel “very, very badly,” Trump added.
"The comments — and the reaction to them — threatened to undercut AIPAC's position as a non-partisan group. The organization already found itself on the other side of the White House after last year’s landmark nuclear deal with Iran, and support for comments like Trump’s could have further jeopardized its standing among Democrats in Washington."
In other news: pace the Brussels attacks, the issue of terrorism is going to come back to the fore:
"Don’t assume terror attacks will help Donald Trump."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/03/22/dont-assume-terror-attacks-will-help-donald-trump/
I think it does and doesn't help him. It helps him in the primary but not in the general as it true for most of the stuff he says and does.
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