Obama, Iran, and Jewish voters

About those anti-Obama emails that falsely accuse Obama of being a radical Islam, Obama referred to those right away with a joke but then said he’d be a true friend of Israel.

Obama talked about Israel in a biographical context and he said the independence of Israel was just and necessary. He said he wanted to address some mischaracterizations of his views on Iran. He mentioned threats against Israel by Iran’s President and Iran’s nuclear program, and he said his goal is to eliminate these threats. Obama suggested he would be willing to use military force against Iran but was more interested in using diplomacy.

As for John McCain, Obama accused him of supporting policies in Iraq and the Middle East which have made Iran stronger. Hillary Clinton, who spoke right after Obama at AIPAC, also accused McCain of supporting a failed policy in Iraq that’s made Israel and the US less safe.

Obama faces some skepticism from the Jewish community. JJ Goldbergh, editorial director of the Jewish daily newspaper, the "Forward," says there’s a hawkish minority among the Jewish community that will remain un-persuaded.

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