

Rothman with missile men, American (l) and Israeli (r)

I just saw this picture (on James Wall’s blog) but what a pleasure it is. Congressman Steve Rothman released this photo a couple months back, during his run for reelection to Congress from the newly-combined 9th district in New Jersey.

Well, Rothman lost the primary this past week, in a walloping upset, to fellow Congressman Bill Pascrell, despite fierce support from AIPAC and the lobby (as MJ Rosenberg reported this week).

Here’s what Rothman’s office said about the photo above:

Washington, DC – On March 30, 2011, U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director, Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly and Arieh Herzog, Director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), came to Congressman Steve Rothman’s Washington DC office for separate meetings with the Congressman to discuss anti-missile system development programs. Congressman Rothman serves on the 15 person House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that allocates all funding for the U.S. military, as well as for all joint U.S.-Israel defense programs.

Oh and speaking of pulling for two countries at the same time, did you see the Jets and Giants football helmets on the credenzas?! (Thanks to a sharp reader).