Congressman Israel doth protest too much

Last week, Iowa Republican Rep. Steven King brought up an issue in public that I have been asked to address countless times in private. “Here is what I don’t understand,” said King. “I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their president.” [See story on the cover of last week’s Jewish Star.]

North Shore Rep. Steve Israel, self-appointed chief Jew in the Democratic Party caucus, decided to take King on. In Politico, he claimed that King entered the realm of “halacha — Jewish law — on what makes a good Jew.” Actually King never mentioned what makes a good or bad Jew, but Steve Israel, trying to turn around King’s words, simply said he did.

King wasn’t even talking about Jews in Congress, but he could have been. In the six and half years Barack Obama has been president, I have not seen one Jewish Democrat in Congress stand up in public or on the floor of the House or Senate to disagree with the president’s anti-Israel policies. Sen. Schumer did say something on the  radio once, but it was on a Jewish radio show with a limited audience.

Rep. Israel stated his case:

“Especially galling is pronouncements by people who’ve never been to Israel that Democrats like me are failing the loyalty test. I am proud of travelling to Israel countless times, and I’m proud of all the work I have done to strengthen this alliance with Israel by working with members on both sides of the aisle.”

Being a supporter of Israel goes way beyond simply traveling to Israel, however. Since Rep. Israel claims to be a huge expert of Jewish law, he should know that it says in the Torah (Vaykra 19:16), “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed.”

King’s statement is not correct in describing all Jewish Democrats, but he is 100 percent correct in the case of Rep. Israel.