Obama reaches out to Jewish leaders
By Ami Eden of the Jewish Telegraphic Association (JTA)

We've received a rough transcript that came from the Obama campaign of a
closed meeting that the candidate held Sunday, Feb. 24 2008, in Cleveland with about 100
Jewish communal leaders. Whoever recorded the remarks was only able to get
Obama's answers, not the actual questions from the audience.

For the most part, Obama sought to reassure the audience on Israel, Iran,
his church, his pastor, his foreign policy advisers, his religion. At the
same time, he picked a few spots to push back against some of his critics in
the Jewish community (see the stuff about the folly of equating pro-Likud
with pro-Israel and the ability of Israelis to conducts a robust debate over
security/diplomatic strategy).

Here are the key quotes (the summaries in all caps are mine [Ami Eden’s], but

the typos are in the transcript as received):

WE NEED 'TIKKUN OLAM' IN WASHINGTON:

"We need to change how Washington works because politics shouldn't just be about

scoring political points, it should also be about solving problems. We need to change

our priorities to make healthcare more affordable. To have an energy policy

that not only creates
jobs and secures our planet but also stops sending billions of dollars to
dictators and effectively leads us to fund both sides of the war on
terrorism. We need a change in our foreign policy to allows to end the war
in Iraq responsibly and lead the world against the common threats of the
21st century, terrorism and nuclear proliferation, genocide, poverty and
hopelessness in the world. These changes are founded in a view of the world
that I believe is deeply imbedded in the Jewish tradition. That all of us
have a responsibility to do our part to repair the world. That we can take
care of one another and build strong communities grounded in faith and
family. That repairing the world is a task that each of us is called upon to
take up every single day. That is the spirit that I expect to take with me
to the White House."

STAND BY YOUR ISRAEL:

"I will also carry with me an unshakable commitment to
the security of Israel and the friendship between the United States and
Israel. The US Israel relationship is rooted in shared interests, shared
values, shared history and in deep friendship among our people. It is
supported by a strong bipartisan consensus that I am proud to be a part of
and I will work tirelessly as president to uphold and enhance the friendship
between the two countries. Two years ago I had a chance to travel to Israel
and it left a lasting impression on me. I have long understood Israel's
great dilemma, it's need for security in a difficult neighborhood and it's
quest for peace with its neighbors, but there is no substitute for meeting
the people of Israel. Seeing the terrain, experiencing the powerful contrast
between the beautiful holy land that faces the constant threat of deadly
violence. The people of Israel showed their courage and commitment to
democracy everyday that they board a bus or kiss their children goodbye or
argue about politics in a local cafe. And I know how much Israelis crave
peace. I know that Prime Minister Olmert was elected with a mandate to
pursue it. I pledge to make every effort to help Israel achieve that peace.
I will strengthen Israel's security and strengthen Palestinian partners who
support that vision and personally work for two states that can live side by
side in peace and security with Israel's status as a Jewish state ensured so
that Israelis and Palestinians can pursue their dreams. I also expect to
work on behalf of peace with the full knowledge that Israel still has bitter
enemies who are intent on its destruction. We see their intentions every
time a suicide bomber strikes, we saw their intentions with the katusha
rockets that Hezbollah rained down on Israel from Lebanon in 2006 and we see
it today in the Kasams that Hamas fires into Israel every single day from as
close as Gaza or as far as Tehran. The Defense cooperation between t he
United States to Israel has been a model of success and I believe it can be
deepened and strengthened."

IRAN: ALL MILITARY OPTIONS ON THE TABLE, BUT LET'S TRY SOME

AGGRESSIVE DIPLOMACY FIRST:

"Now the gravest threat as [U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler
(D-Fla.)] mentioned to Israel today I believe is from Iran. There a radical
regime continues to pursue its capacity to build a nuclear weapon and
continues to support terrorism across the region. President Ahmadinejad
continues his offensive denials of the Holocaust and disturbing
denunciations of Israel. recently referred to Israel as a deadly microbe and
a savage animal. Threats of Israel's destruction can not be dismissed as
rhetoric. The threat from Iran is real and my goal as president would be to
eliminate that threat. Ending the war in Iraq I believe will be an important
first step in achieving that goal because it will increase our flexibility
and credibility when we deal with Iran. Make no mistake I believe that Iran
has been the biggest strategic beneficiary of this war and I intend to
change that. My approach to Iran will be aggressive diplomacy. I will not
take any military options off the table. But I also believe that under this
administration we have seen the threat grow worse and I intend to change
that course. The time I believe has come to talk to directly to the Iranians
and to lay out our clear terms. Their end of pursuit of nuclear weapons, an
end of their support of terrorism and an end of their threat to Israel and
other countries in the reason. To prepare this goal I believe that we need
to present incentives, carrots, like the prospect of better relations and
integration into the national community, as well as disincentives like the
prospect of increased sanctions. I would seek these sanctions through the
United Nations and encourage our friends in Europe and the Gulf to use their
economic leverage against Iran outside of the UN and I believe we will be in
a stronger position to achieve these tough international sanctions if the
United States has shown itself to be willing to come to the table. I will
also continue the work I started in the United States Senate by enacting my
legislation to make it easier for states to divest their pension funds from
Iran. As president I will leave all options on the table for dealing with a
threat from Iran including the military options. But I believe that we have
not pursued the kind of aggressive and direct diplomacy that could yield
results to both Israel and the United States. The current policy of not
talking is not working. It is time to change that. I am running for
president because I believe that America can do better both at home and
abroad. I believe that we can do better in our relationship with Israel
through a more effective foreign policy that reduces the threat of terrorism
and increase the possibility for peace."

I DON'T AGREE WITH EVERYTHING MY PASTOR SAYS, BESIDES, HE'S RETIRING

(HEY, DON'T ANY OF YOU HAVE AN UNCLE WHO SAYS SHVARTZA?):

"I am member of the
Unity Church of Christ, Trinity United Church of Christ been there for 20
years. And although this is an improvement because you don't think I am
Muslim, which is the other… [laughter] You know so, slowly we are
progressing here. It is a very conventional African American Church. If you
go to, if you were there at the church you would be hearing gospel music and
people preaching about Jesus. It is a very conventional in that sense. It is
true that my Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who will be retiring this month, is
somebody who on occasion can say controversial things. Most of them by the
way are controversial directed at the African American Community and calling
on them start reading books and turn off the tv set and engage in self help.
And he is very active in prison ministries and so forth. Its is also true
that he comes out of the 60s he is an older man. That is where he cut his
teeth. That he has historically been interested in the African roots of the
African American experience. He was very active in the South Africa
divestment movement and you will recall that there was a tension that arose
between the African American and the Jewish communities During that period
when we were dealing with apartheid in South Africa, because Israel and
South Africa had a relationship at that time. And that cause - that was a
source of tension. So there have been a couple of occasions where he made
comments with relation, rooted in that. Not necessary ones that I share. But
that is the context within which he has made those comments. He does not
have a close relationship with Louis Farrakhan. Louis Farrakhan is a
resident of Chicago and as a consequence he has been active in a range of
community activities, particularly around ex-offenders and dealing with
them. I have been a consistent, before I go any further, a consistent
denunciator of Louis Farrakhan, nobody challenges that. And what is true is
that, recently this is probably, I guess last year. An award was given to
Farrakhan for his work on behave of ex-offenders completely unrelated to his
controversial statements. And I believe that was a mistake and showed a lack
of sensitivity to Jewish community and I said so. But I have never heard an
anti-Semitic made inside of our church. I have never heard anything that
would suggest anti-Semitism on part of the Pastor. He is like an old uncle
who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with. And I suspect there
are some of the people in this room who have heard relatives say some things
that they don't agree with. Including, on occasion directed at African
Americans that maybe a possibility that's just - I am not suggesting that's
definitive. So the point I make is this that I understand the concerns and
the sensitivities and one of my goals constantly in my public career has
been to try to bridge what was a historically powerful bond between the
African American and Jewish communities that has been frayed in recent
years. For a whole variety of reasons. I think that I have served as an
effective bridge and that's the reason I have overwhelming support among the
Jewish community that knows me best, which is the Jewish community in
Chicago. And I think that anybody who has friends among the Jewish community
in Chicago should check out those credentials. But I do appreciate the
opportunity to clarify those concerns. And as I said that last point I would
make is that you know my Pastor is going to be retiring over the next month.
So my general view, and the reason that I raise this, this is always a
sensitive point, what you don't want to do is distance yourself or kick
somebody away, because you are now running for President and you are worried
about perceptions, particularly when someone is basically winding down their
life and their career. Okay, yes."

I AM NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN, A MUSLIM (ESPECIALLY AN ANTI-AMERICAN ONE):

"Well, let's just be very specific about what these emails have been. And
they have just been virulent and started very early. And I have to say are
not. I mean they are clearly political in the sense that they go in waves.
And seem to track the next primary or caucus. Suddenly they
magically appear in great volume in whatever state it is we are campaigning.
And the emails suggest that A. that I am Muslim, B. that I went to a
madrassa C. that I used a Koran to swear myself into the Senate D. That I
don't pledge allegiance to the flag. There are all sorts of variations, but
you get the general gist. And our general view has been, that the internet
is very difficult, because it is very low cost, it can just be churned out
and you can't trace it back to where it's coming from. What we have tried to
do is just make sure that we are flooding the internet with the accurate
information and pushing back as much as possible. I don't think that we are
in an era anymore where you can just ignore these things and not dignify
them. There was a time when they would be amplified as consequence of you
calling attention to it. I don't think that's the case any more because of
our media age. You know we saw what happened with the swift boat situation
back in 2004. All you have to do is run the ad once and then it gets
repeated. And so what we've done is try to lift it up and actively debunk it
and encourage stories about it. If anyone is still puzzled about the facts,
in fact I have never been a Muslim. We had to send CNN to look at the school
that I attended in Indonesia where kids were wearing short pants and
listening to ipods to indicate that this was not a madrassa but was a
secular school in Indonesia. Where I attended for two year prior to coming
back to Hawaii. If you look at Nicholas Kristof's article today it gives you
an indication of where I got my name. My grandfather who was Kenyan
converted to Christianity then converted to Islam, my father never practiced
he was basically agnostic and so other than my name and the fact that I
lived in a populous Muslim country for 4 years when I was a child I have
very little connection to the Islamic religion. But these are the kind of
things that you deal with in politics. What is interesting is that is hasn't
worked because I haven't been voted off the island yet. Next, yes sir."

I BARELY KNOW BRZEZINSKI:

"There is a spectrum of views in terms of how the
US and Israel should be interacting. It has evolved over time. It means that
somebody like Brzezinski who, when he was national security advisor would be
considered not outside of the mainstream in terms of his perspective on
these issues, is now considered by many in the Jewish Community anathema. I
know Brzezinski he's not one of my key advisors. I've had lunch with him
once, I've exchanged emails with him maybe 3 times. He came to Iowa to
introduce for a speech on Iraq. He and I agree that Iraq was an enormous
strategic blunder and that input from him has been useful in assessing Iraq,
as well as Pakistan, where actually, traditionally, if you will recall he
was considered a hawk. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party was very
suspicious of Brzezinski precisely because he was so tough on many of these
issues. I do not share his views with respect to Israel. I have said so
clearly and unequivocally."

YOU CAN BE PRO-ISRAEL WITHOUT BEING PRO-LIKUD: "The others that you refer to
are former members of the Clinton administration. Somebody like a Tony Lake,
the former National Security Adviser, or Susan Rice -these are not
anti-Israel individuals. These are people who strongly believe in Israel's
right to exist. Strongly believe in a two-state solution. Strongly believe
that the Palestinians have been irresponsible and have been strongly
critical of them. Share my view that Israel has to remain a Jewish state,
that the US has a special relationship with the Jewish state. There's no
inkling that there has been anything in anything that they've written that
would suggest they're not stalwart friends of Israel. This is where I get to
be honest and I hope I'm not out of school here. I think there is a strain
within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering
pro-Likud approach to Israel that you're anti-Israel and that can't be the
measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have a honest dialogue
about how do we achieve these goals, then we're not going to make progress.
And frankly some of the commentary that I've seen which suggests guilt by
association or the notion that unless we are never ever going to ask any
difficult questions about how we move peace forward or secure Israel that is
non military or non belligerent or doesn't talk about just crushing the
opposition that that somehow is being soft or anti-Israel, I think we're
going to have problems moving forward. And that I think is something we have
to have an honest dialogue about. None of these emails talk about the fact
that on the other side, members of my national finance committee, like
Lester Crown, are considered about has hawkish and tough when it comes to
Israel as anybody in the country. So, there's got to be some balance here.
I've got a range of perspectives and a range of advisors who approach this
issue. They would all be considered well within the mainstream of that
bipartisan consensus that I raised or that we talked about in terms of being
pro-Israel. There's never been any of my advisors who questioned the need
for us to provide Israel with security, with military aid, with economic
aid. That there has to be a two state solution, that Israel has to remain a
Jewish state. None of my advisors would suggest that, so I think its
important to keep some of these things in perspective. I understand people's
concern with Brzezinski given how much offense the Israeli lobby raised, but
he's not one of my central advisers."

IN SEARCH OF AN UNROMANTIC PEACE PLAN:

"Well here's my starting orientation
is A - Israel's security is sacrosanct, is non negotiable. That's point
number one. Point number two is that the status quo I believe is
unsustainable over time. So we're going to have to make a shift from the
current deadlock that we're in. Number three that Israel has to remain a
Jewish state and what I believe that means is that any negotiated peace
between the Israelis and the Palestinians is going to have to involve the
Palestinians relinquishing the right of return as it has been understood in
the past. And that doesn't mean that there may not be conversations about
compensation issues. It also means the Israelis will have to figure out how
do we work with a legitimate Palestinian government to create a Palestinian
state that is sustainable. It's going to have to be contiguous, its going to
have to work its going to have to function in some way. That's in Israel's
interest by the way. If you have a balkanized unsustainable state, it will
break down and we will be back in the same boat. So those are the starting
points of my orientation. My goal then would be to solicit as many practical
opinions as possible in terms of how we're going to move forward on a
improvement of relations and a sustainable peace. The question that I will
be asking any advisor is how does it achieve the goal of Israel's security
and how does it achieve the goal of sustainability over the long term and I
want practical, hardheaded, unromantic advice about how we're going to
achieve that.

THE PALESTINIANS NEED TO KEEP THEIR COMMITMENTS: I have consistently said
this, and I have said this to Palestinians, I said this when I was in
Ramallah, that you cannot fault Israel for being concerned about any peace
agreement if the Palestinian state or Palestinian Authority or Palestinian
leadership does not seem to be able to follow through on its commitments.
And I think the approach we have to take with respect to negations is that
you sit down and talk, but you have to suspend trust until you can see that
the Palestinian side can follow through and that's a position that I have
consistently taken and the one I will take with me to the White House."

IF ISRAELIS CAN DEBATE THESE ISSUES HONESTLY, SO CAN WE: One last point I'll
make on this, in terms of advisors and the kind of debate I think is
fruitful, one of the things that struck me when I went to Israel was how
much more open the debate was around these issues in Israel than they are
sometimes here in the United States. It's very ironic. I sat down with the
head of Israeli security forces and his view of the Palestinians was
incredibly nuanced because he's dealing with these people every day. There's
good and there's bad, and he was willing to say sometimes we make mistakes
and we made this miscalculation and if we are just pressing down on these
folks constantly without giving them some prospects for hope, that's not
good for our security situation. There was a very honest, thoughtful debate
taking place inside Israel. All of you, I'm sure, have experienced this when
you travel there. Understandably, because of the pressure that Israel is
under, I think the U.S. pro-Israel community is sometimes a little more
protective or concerned about opening up that conversation. But all I'm
saying though is that actually ultimately should be our goal, to have that
same clear eyed view about how we approach these issues.

SURE, SOME JEWS THINK THE GOP IS BETTER ON ISRAEL, ”BUT THEY'RE WRONG:"

Well look, the Jewish community is a) diverse, b) has interests beyond Israel.
There is a the tradition of the Jewish community in America as a
progressive force that is concerned with the poor, is concerned with the
vulnerable, is concerned with children, is concerned with civil rights, is
concerned with civil liberties. Those are values that I believe are much
more evident in our Democratic Party and that can't be forgotten. I think
that what I've seen, and you would know better than I would, is that to the
extent that there's been bleeding over into the Republican Party, it all has
to do with this issue of Israel. And what I would simply suggest is look at
the consequences George Bush's policies. The proof is in the point. I do not
understand how anybody who is concerned about Israel's security and the
threat of Iran could be supportive of George Bush's foreign policy. It has
completely backfired. It is indisputable that Iran is the biggest strategic
beneficiary of the war in Iraq. We have spent what will soon be close to a
trillion dollars strengthening Iran, expanding their influence. How is that
helpful to Israel? How is that helpful to Israel? You can't make that
argument. And so the problem that we've seen in U.S. foreign policy
generally has been this notion that being full of bluster and rattling
sabers and being quick on the draw somehow makes you more secure. And keep
in mind that I don't know anybody in the Democratic Party, and I will say
this for Hillary Clinton and I will say this for myself, who has indicated
in any way that we would tolerate and allow to fester terrorist threats,
that we wouldn't hunt down, capture, or kill terrorists that haven't been
supportive of Israel capturing or killing terrorists. So it's not like we're
a bunch of folks asking to hold hands and sing Kumbiya. When Israel launched
its counterattack against Hezbollah in Lebanon during the summer of 2006, I
was in South Africa at the time, a place that was not particularly friendly
to Israel at the time and I was asked by the press, what did you think? And
I said, if somebody invades my country or is firing rockets into my country
or kidnapping my soldiers, I will not tolerate that. And there's no nation
in the world that would. So I don't see this softness within the Democratic
Party on these issues. The question is, can we use our military power
wisely? Can we be strategic in terms of how we move forward? And I think
that is profoundly in the interests of Israel and in the interests of U.S.
security."

WHAT HAMAS NEEDS TO DO: "Now again, going back to my experiences in Israel
and the discussions I've had with security officials there, I think that
there are communications between the Israeli government and Hamas that may
be two or three degrees removed, but people know what Hamas is thinking and
what's going on and the point is that with respect to Hamas, you can't have
a conversation with somebody who doesn't think you should be on the other
side of the table. At the point where they recognize Israel and its right to
exist, at the point where they recognize that they are not going to be able
to shove their world view down the throats of others but are going to have
to sit down and negotiate without resort to violence, then I think that will
be a different circumstance. That's not the circumstance that we're in right
now. I've only called on men I think, I've got to get at least one female
question well, it's just because I didn't see any in fairness to me, you
guys didn't raise your hands, ladies. This is how I end up getting into
trouble here. Go ahead."

LEARNING FROM INDONESIA: "Now keep in mind, Indonesia is not the Arab world.
So its brand of Islam was always very different. Women were riding on Vespas
and going to work, and people weren't wearing headscarves until very
recently - that was actually an import from the Middle East. But here's
what's interesting about Indonesia, it's a good case study. It had had a
very tolerant, mild brand of Islam all the time that I was living there and
basically up and thru 97. And what happened was that you'll recall the Asian
financial crisis hit them extraordinarily hard. Their gross domestic product
contracted by 30% - they had the equivalent of a Great Depression, but this
was a country that was already extraordinarily poor. So, there was a direct
correlation between the collapse of that economy and the rise of
fundamentalist Islam inside of Indonesia. Partly it was exported by Saudi
Wahhabist schools that were sent in and financing schools there, and
suddenly you started seeing head scarves on the streets and Islamic
organizations that were parroting some of the fundamentalist and more
fanatical brands of Islam that we associate with the Middle East. And the
reason I raise that point is that although people will often say, well
terrorists are drawn from the middle class and just being poor doesn't mean
that you're automatically ascribe to violent jihadist tendencies. What is
absolutely true is that in the Arab world and in the Muslim world, I do
think there is a correlation between the degree to which those communities
function properly, give people hope, give people a sense of direction, give
children education, and how vulnerable they are to these violent
ideologies."

I AM NOT NAIVE:

"So what lessons do we learn from that then? I am not naive .
There is a hard core of jihadist fundamentalists who we can't negotiate
with. We have to hunt them down and knock them out. Incapacitate them.
That's the military aspects of dealing with this phenomenon. Now somebody
like a Richard Clarke would estimate that the hard core jihadists would
gladly blow up this room maybe it's 30,000 people, maybe it's 40,000 people,
maybe it's 50,000 people. But it is a finite number. And that is where
military action and intelligence has to be directed. So all the things I've
talked about in the past - improving our intelligence capacity, improving
our alliances, rolling up financial support, improving our homeland
security, making sure that we have strike forces that are effective - that's
all the military, intelligence, police work that's required.

"The question then is what do we do with the 1.3 billion Muslims, who are
along a spectrum of belief. Some extraordinarily moderate, some very pious
but not violent. How do we reach out to them? And it is my strong belief
that that is the battlefield that we have to worry about, and that is where
we have been losing badly over the last 7 years. That is where Iraq has been
a disaster. That is where the lack of effective public diplomacy has been a
disaster. That is where our failure to challenge seriously human rights
violations by countries like Saudi Arabia that are our allies has been a
disaster. And so what we have to do is to speak to that broader Muslim world
in a way that says we will consistently support human rights, women's
rights. We will consistently invest in the kinds of educational
opportunities for children in these communities, so that madrasas are not
their only source of learning. We will consistently operate in ways that
lead by example, so that we have no tolerance for a Guantanamo or renditions
or torture. Those all contribute to people at least being open to our values
and our ideas and a recognition that we are not the enemy and that the Clash
of Civilizations is not inevitable.

"Now, as I said, we enter into those conversations with the Muslim world
being mindful that we also have to defend ourselves against those who will
not accept the West, no matter how appropriately we engage. And that is the
realism that has to leaven our hopefulness. But, we abandon the possibility
of conversation with that broader Muslim world at our own peril. I think all
we do then, is further isolate it and feed the kinds of jihadist fanaticism
that I think can be so."