

Josh Block

The effort by former AIPAC staffer Josh Block to smear the Democratic-Party-linked thinktank Center for American Progress as a nest of anti-Semitic bloggers was shepherded in the U.S. by Politico, but Block was the first casualty of the campaign, after his methods became the focus of the story.

Meantime, the effort has gained traction in… the Jerusalem Post! The Post has now run two stories about what it calls “the mushrooming anti-Israel scandal surrounding a group of bloggers working for the US think tank Center for American Progress (CAP).”

The latest JPost hit piece, out yesterday, makes clear the partisan character of Block’s effort. Though Block is a longtime Democrat, his message relies on right-wingers quoting right-wingers (and a few right-leaners). His defense comes from Republican Hill aides:

“I think what we’re seeing play out is a power struggle inside the Democratic Party over the very nature of the US-Israel relationship,” a senior Republican Senate aide told the Post. “There are some forces on the far-Left who insist on perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes as a way to achieve their political goals and to change US policy toward Israel. And then you have individuals in the Center-Left, like a Josh Block [the former Clinton administration and AIPAC spokesman who first brought the CAP bloggers’ comments to the attention of Washington news site Politico in December], who are pushing back and saying enough is enough.”

This is what we’ve long pushed for– an argument over the power of the Israel lobby inside the Democratic Party. And will I as an advocate of the Arab Spring in Palestine and the U.S. work with liberal Zionists who oppose settlements to stir the Democratic pot? Yes. (As I will work with Ron Paulians to stir the Republican pot…)