Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, wrote an editorial saying Israel should consider assassinating Barack Obama. He wasn’t necessarily saying that they should assassinate Obama. Only that it should be one option on the table.

Here’s how Adler laid out “option three” in his list of scenarios facing Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu (the column, which was forwarded to us by a tipster, isn’t online, but you can read a copy here): Three, give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies. Yes, you read “three” correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles? Another way of putting “three” in perspective goes something like this: How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives…Jews, Christians and Arabs alike? You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.

Notice how confident he is that our “strategic ally” has already discussed assassinating Obama. And, no, he hasn’t been arrested, in case you’re wondering. But the FBI is investigating.

The article has brought down scathing rebuke from the organized Jewish community, including the ADL’s Abe Foxman, and Adler has apologized. But there is some historical precedent for such a strategy. As reported by JTA, Harry Truman’s daughter, Margaret Truman Daniel, claimed in her 1972 biography of Truman that letter bombs were sent in 1947 by the terrorist Stern Group intended for the president. The same allegation was made in a 1949 book by a White House staffer in charge of reading the mail. The leader of the Stern Group denied it, pointing out that there was no motive, since Truman was more sympathetic to Zionism than FDR. However, Truman was certainly not a staunch Zionist in 1947, although he did ultimately capitulate to Jewish pressure (and money) when he recognized Israel over the strong objections of the military and foreign policy establishment. In any case, it’s clear that the Stern Group did use this tactic:

Yalin-Mor [head of the Stern Group] … readily acknowledged that the Sternists resorted to letter bombs but insisted that they were sent only to British leaders during the waning years of the Palestine Mandate and not to any other nationals. He said there was nothing to be gained from driving other sympathetic nations into the arms of the British.

It’s quite clear that from the beginning Zionism has been characterized by ruthless pursuit of its goals, particularly by the ultra-nationalists who are now in power and are set to dominate Israeli politics in the future. After all, the current Likud-dominated government of Israel is the direct descendant of the Stern Group and its ilk who were inspired by Jewish racial nationalist Vladimir Jabotinsky. These are the groups that carried out the bombing of the King David Hotel and the Deir Yassin massacre. Their descendants are the force behind current Israeli policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, and the crusade for war with Iran.

It’s not surprising that Adler’s letter would be condemned by today’s Jewish establishment, but one suspects a bit of hypocrisy. In the realm of ethnic politics, the only criterion is what works, and I am quite certain that Abe Foxman understands that.