Ha'aretz Backs Obama

[Prospero]

Israel's oldest and biggest circulation daily newspaper Ha'aretz has come out in support of Obama for president - declaring him good for israel...


Haaretz endorses Obama, calling him 'good for Israel'

President Obama — who has battled accusations that he is insufficiently committed to the U.S. relationship with Israel — locks down the endorsement of that country's left-of center newspaper.

In an editorial, the paper calls Obama "good for Israel" and writes:

"Obama continued this two-way track vis-a-vis Iran and the issue of Palestinian statehood. Under his pressure, Israel suspended for the first time - for a while - construction in the settlements. Relations between the two countries' armed forces have never been so close. Obama's challenge in his second term, if he wins the elections, is to lead the region to a stable arrangement of peace and security.

The outcome of the elections will be determined by the voters' decision as to which of the two candidates is good for America. But if any of them are vacillating in their vote over whether Obama has been a good president for Israel, the answer is yes.

While Obama has come under constant criticism for his testy relationship with the Israeli government, a recent IBD/CSM/TIPP poll shows him leading among Jewish American voters 59 percent to 35 percent. That's down significantly from his 2008 results, where exit polls showed that he won 78 percent of Jewish voters.

[martin48]

Is this a positive or a negative endorsement?

[Prospero]

That's a good question. When it comes to Jews in the US (and in Florida a crucial swing state0 it does. Some who supported Obama last time around are now switching to Romney.

Menwhile Haartez is is losing circlation in Israel to a free daily paper launched by and owned by Sheldon Adelson, one of the biggest campaign contribuors to Romney. Adelson supports the expansion of settlements on the West Bank. An interfering newspaper owner in the mould of Murdoch and William Randolph Hearst..

This was published about him in the Guardian a few days ago.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...tics-influence

[Stavros]

Israel's oldest and biggest circulation daily newspaper Ha'aretz has come out in support of Obama for president - declaring him good for israel...


Haaretz endorses Obama, calling him 'good for Israel'

President Obama — who has battled accusations that he is insufficiently committed to the U.S. relationship with Israel — locks down the endorsement of that country's left-of center newspaper.

In an editorial, the paper calls Obama "good for Israel" and writes:

"Obama continued this two-way track vis-a-vis Iran and the issue of Palestinian statehood. Under his pressure, Israel suspended for the first time - for a while - construction in the settlements. Relations between the two countries' armed forces have never been so close. Obama's challenge in his second term, if he wins the elections, is to lead the region to a stable arrangement of peace and security.

The outcome of the elections will be determined by the voters' decision as to which of the two candidates is good for America. But if any of them are vacillating in their vote over whether Obama has been a good president for Israel, the answer is yes.

While Obama has come under constant criticism for his testy relationship with the Israeli government, a recent IBD/CSM/TIPP poll shows him leading among Jewish American voters 59 percent to 35 percent. That's down significantly from his 2008 results, where exit polls showed that he won 78 percent of Jewish voters.

Ha'aretz endorsing Obama is no more surprising than the NYT doing so; but you may or may not know the claim that by getting Ha'aretz to print his free paper, anti-Obama Sheldon Adelson saved the paper form bankruptcy. Like hard copy papers in many countries, online publishing is now more important than the old-style printed word.

For a guide to Israel's papers:
http://972mag.com/the-political-line...rs-guide/4072/