Emanuel acknowledges White House ‘screwed up’ message on Israel support

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel acknowledged to a group of rabbis that the
U.S. “screwed up the messaging” on its policy toward Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reports the White House has held two meetings with 15 influential rabbis from across the country to assuage concerns about the administration’s support for Israel.

In the second meeting, held Thursday, Emanuel seemed to offer a mea culpa:

The Obama administration has “screwed up the messaging” about its support for Israel over the past 14 months, and it will take “more than one month to make up for 14 months,” White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday to a group of rabbis called together for a meeting in the White House.

“During the elections there were doubts about President Obama’s support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced,” Emanuel said, according to one of those who participated in the meeting. “But concerning policy, we have done everything that we can that is in Israel’s security – and long-range interests. Watch what the administration does.”

The meetings were an attempt to repair relations with U.S. Jews after a visit from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended in a PR disaster.