NEW YORK, March 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC
Executive Director David Harris
issued the following statement regarding a full-page ad in
yesterday's New York Times, sponsored
by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, assailing U.S. National Security Adviser
Susan Rice:
"As AJC said in a tweet yesterday, this ad was 'way over the
top' and 'revolting.' Indeed, if anything, those characterizations
were inadequate in expressing the depth of our reaction to what
Boteach did.
"First, to blame Susan Rice for
genocide, surround her with the skulls of victims of the
Rwanda tragedy, and suggest that
the Jewish people may be next because of her, is beyond
shocking.
"Yes, there was a genocide in Rwanda, yes, it happened on the watch of the
Clinton Administration in which Rice served, and yes, President
Clinton has since acknowledged his, and the international
community's, failure to stop it.
"But to lay the blame for all this on Susan Rice, and to assert that she has a soft
spot for genocide, which could mean that it's Israel's turn next, is disgraceful in the
extreme.
"Second, has Boteach helped the pro-Israel community, which, presumably, was the
object of the exercise? Absolutely not. To the contrary, he has
made our collective task more difficult.
"At a difficult moment in the U.S.-Israel relationship, when level-headed people
ought to be devoting themselves to cooling the rhetoric,
reinforcing the foundation of the Jerusalem-Washington link, reaffirming bipartisan
American support for the Jewish state, and seeking to bridge any
gaps between the Administration and Congress, Boteach comes along
as a verbal arsonist to exacerbate the situation. With friends like
these…
"Third, whether Rice's use of the word 'destructive' to describe
Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington was appropriate can be debated, but
it is far from the alpha and omega of her record on Israel. Having worked especially closely with
her during her tenure as our nation's Permanent Representative to
the United Nations, I can attest to the fact that, on many
occasions -- some heralded, others not – she was a stalwart, indeed
indispensable, friend of Israel
and the Jewish people.
"And fourth, may I remind Boteach that, while he has every right
to like or dislike this president, national security adviser, and
administration, it is here to stay for the next nearly two years,
during which many crucial issues affecting Israel and the larger Middle East will inevitably come up.
"Boteach's ad may (or may not) play to his bleachers, but he
sure as heck won't be taken remotely seriously by those in
government with the position and power to make those decisions, so
he has totally and completely marginalized himself.
"My unsolicited advice? Boteach ought to look within himself,
recognize that he made a catastrophic mistake in which the only
genuine beneficiary was the balance sheet of the New York Times, and apologize unconditionally and
sincerely, first and foremost to Susan
Rice."
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ajc-strongly-rejects-shmuley-boteach-ad-in-new-york-times-300043251.html
SOURCE American Jewish Committee