NY-9 TV Ad: You Can't Be Pro-Israel and Pro-Obama

The Emergency Committee for Israel is going on air in New York's 9th congressional district with a new TV ad hammering President Obama's Israel policy in the run up to Tuesday's special election: 

Jennifer Rubin talks to Bill Kristol, a board member of ECI, about the ad: 

I asked Kristol why he thinks the NY-9 race is significant. He responded, “Whatever the outcome Tuesday, the message of the campaign and of both candidates is clear: You can’t be pro-Israel and pro-Obama.” According to ECI’s executive director, “The 60-sec NY-9 spot — titled ‘The Uniter’ — is a significant buy that will run on Monday and Tuesday during news broadcasts on local New York news channels NY1 and News12, and during primetime in New York on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and MSNBC.”

But this is only one part of a bigger effort by ECI. As soon as the rain lifts, ECI will be putting up jumbo-sized billboards in New York — on tunnels, in view of JFK airport and elsewhere — featuring the “Obama not pro-Israel” theme. Those will presumably be up to greet the delegations coming into New York for the U.N. General Assembly meeting that will vote on the Palestinians’ demand for a resolution that the PA will trumpet as “statehood.” ECI will also run print ads in Washington, D.C., targeted to the Hill, and a large ad on the New York Times’s Web home page that will be seen by millions of Americans.

Obama's Israel policy is a big reason why some Democrats, such as Assemblyman Dov Hikind and former mayor Ed Koch, have endorsed Republican Bob Turner in the race. In 2008, Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote nationwide. As of June 2011, his approval rating was down to 60 percent among Jewish Americans, according to Gallup. A Siena poll released today showed just 51% of Jewish voters in NY-9 supporting Weprin.

Obama's Israel policy has put Weprin in a difficult position. “Will I eventually support Obama on his reelection? Probably," Weprin said in a recent interview. "Do I disagree with him on his Israel policy? Absolutely. I will probably not refuse to endorse him because I think I will be more effective by supporting him but at the same time being very strongly against him on some of his policies.”