The safety and security of Israel are at great risk if the Clinton ticket prevails. With Jewish voters supporting Hillary Clinton by a margin of 3 to 1, this statement would appear counterintuitive. But a close look at Hillary’s running mate, Tim Kaine, clearly supports this fear.
Cumulatively since 2011, Tim Kaine has been recipient of $178,283 from George Soros’ anti-Israel “J Street” PAC. As the highest congressional recipient of J Street funding to date, this helps explain Kaine’s decision, as one of eight senators, to have snubbed Benjamin Netanyahu’s prescient warning to Congress in March 2015 about the Iran nuclear deal. It also explains the fury of his tireless lobbying efforts in support of the highly deceptive process by which the Iran deal ultimately became law.
{mosads}These disturbing indicators are only secondary, however, to the massive exposure that results from Kaine’s overt refusal to acknowledge the lethal and oppressive nature of radical Islam. Whether it’s Iran threatening to wipe Israel off the map, or the Muslim Brotherhood proclaiming that “killing one Jew is equivalent to killing thirty million Jews,” the doctrine of radical Islam is anathema to our democratic way of life, and throughout his career as a public servant Kaine has gone out of his way to downplay the threat.
In September of 2007, as governor of Virginia, Kaine appointed Dr. Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, to the Virginia Immigration Commission. MAS had been identified by federal prosecutors as “an overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.” A revealing video of Omeish making inflammatory remarks subsequently caused him to resign. Omeish was also the vice president of a radical mosque whose membership included Anwar Al-Awlaki (al-Qaeda), two of the 9/11 hijackers, and Nidal Hasan, perpetrator of the Fort Hood massacre. Omeish served as chairman of the board of a New Jersey mosque whose imam was sought for deportation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Kaine also had ties to Jamal Barzinji who was described as the founding father of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. Barzinji had been on the FBI’s radar as early as 1987. Kaine is seen on video expressing gratitude to Barzinji’s International Institute of Islamic Thought for allowing him to attend their annual dinners, on four previous occasions. Barzinji’s New Dominion PAC donated $43,050 to Kaine’s gubernatorial campaign. In Virginia the PAC contributed over $257,000 to the Virginia Democratic Party, allowing for President Obama’s appointment of Barzinji’s grandson to the position of liaison to the Muslim-American community.
What is most disturbing is despite Kaine’s rancid credentials on Israel and national security, Clinton felt that they would not jeopardize the support of her Jewish base. The short take on this is that Hillary will most likely uphold policies on Israel that will mesh seamlessly with those of the Obama administration. Greatly influenced by the contribution of hundreds of millions of dollars by Muslim nations to the Clinton Foundation, Hillary and Kaine share the same dangerous blind spot for the growing spread of radical Islam.
Hence, if it were to become necessary to re-apply sanctions on Iran or restructure the nuclear agreement, it is likely that a Clinton administration, like the Obama administration, would be an immovable obstacle. Equally important, if the Obama administration, as rumor has it, were to attempt an end run around Congress prior to January by allowing the UN Security Council to dictate parameters for future territorial concession in Judea and Samaria, it is unlikely that sufficient congressional pressure could ever be mounted in order to reverse such action. Any plan for territorial concession that would strip Israel of significant strategic barriers would accelerate radical Islamist aggression in the region.
If AIPAC doesn’t straighten out its definition of “pro-Israel,” it will impact the strategic balance presently favoring Israel. Its dancing around the radical Islamic “elephant in the room” has led to the implosion of AIPAC’s once unassailable credibility. Clinton and Kaine need to understand that in this rapidly changing landscape, you can’t be called “pro-Israel” if you’re not anti-radical Islam.
Andrew Lappin is a Chicago-based redeveloper and contributor to the Haym Salomon Center, a news and public policy group. Lappin serves on the board of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.