AJC Strongly Rejects Shmuley Boteach Ad in New York Times

News provided by

Mar 01, 2015, 09:54 ET

NEW YORK, March 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC Executive Director David Harris issued the following statement regarding a full-page ad in yesterday's New York Times, sponsored by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, assailing U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice:

"As AJC said in a tweet yesterday, this ad was 'way over the top' and 'revolting.' Indeed, if anything, those characterizations were inadequate in expressing the depth of our reaction to what Boteach did.

"First, to blame Susan Rice for genocide, surround her with the skulls of victims of the Rwanda tragedy, and suggest that the Jewish people may be next because of her, is beyond shocking.

"Yes, there was a genocide in Rwanda, yes, it happened on the watch of the Clinton Administration in which Rice served, and yes, President Clinton has since acknowledged his, and the international community's, failure to stop it.

"But to lay the blame for all this on Susan Rice, and to assert that she has a soft spot for genocide, which could mean that it's Israel's turn next, is disgraceful in the extreme.

"Second, has Boteach helped the pro-Israel community, which, presumably, was the object of the exercise? Absolutely not. To the contrary, he has made our collective task more difficult.

"At a difficult moment in the U.S.-Israel relationship, when level-headed people ought to be devoting themselves to cooling the rhetoric, reinforcing the foundation of the Jerusalem-Washington link, reaffirming bipartisan American support for the Jewish state, and seeking to bridge any gaps between the Administration and Congress, Boteach comes along as a verbal arsonist to exacerbate the situation. With friends like these…

"Third, whether Rice's use of the word 'destructive' to describe Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington was appropriate can be debated, but it is far from the alpha and omega of her record on Israel. Having worked especially closely with her during her tenure as our nation's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, I can attest to the fact that, on many occasions -- some heralded, others not – she was a stalwart, indeed indispensable, friend of Israel and the Jewish people.

"And fourth, may I remind Boteach that, while he has every right to like or dislike this president, national security adviser, and administration, it is here to stay for the next nearly two years, during which many crucial issues affecting Israel and the larger Middle East will inevitably come up.

"Boteach's ad may (or may not) play to his bleachers, but he sure as heck won't be taken remotely seriously by those in government with the position and power to make those decisions, so he has totally and completely marginalized himself.

"My unsolicited advice? Boteach ought to look within himself, recognize that he made a catastrophic mistake in which the only genuine beneficiary was the balance sheet of the New York Times, and apologize unconditionally and sincerely, first and foremost to Susan Rice."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee