In an e-mail exchange posted by Wikileaks, Hillary Clinton was advised not to mention Israel in her public speeches as she launched her campaign last year, especially in front of Democratic activists. Talking about America’s ally was only politically expedient when in front of donors, her top aides said.
Clinton’s foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan suggested adding at least a sentence “on standing up for our allies and values, including Israel and other fellow democracies” to her opening stump speech. But that was met with much resistance.
“I thought this was largely for her TP [talking points] with public events not fundraisers. Do we need Israel etc for that?” speechwriter Mandy Grunwald asked.
Sullivan wrote back: “We def need the etc. I think good to have Israel too. [sic]”
As The Washington Free Beacon notes, Joel Benenson, a leading pollster who helped the Obama campaigns, also advised against mentioning Israel.
Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, chimed in agreeing with Benenson: “I’m w Joel. We shouldn’t have Israel at public events. Especially dem activists.”
Now that they were all in agreement to strike Israel from Clinton’s public events, Dan Schwerin, another speechwriter, suggested a gathering where it would be more “appropriate” to say the I-word:
“She can drop in Israel when she’s with donors.”
These leaked messages come at a time when support for Israel is declining rapidly from within the Democratic Party. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considered a controversial figure among political progressives and the Clinton camp is bowing to that pressure.
As is noted in the Beacon’s report, Clinton shed some light on her political philosophies in a paid speech from 2013 that might help unpack her thought process:
Clinton said that in order “to be successful, politically … you need both a public and a private position” on controversial issues.
But isn’t it funny that when these private positions become known publicly, the liberal media looks the other way?
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