A couple of months back I thought that the Turner-Weprin race in Brooklyn for Anthony Weiner’s old congressional seat would be a fight over Israel. A lot of other people thought so, too. The Times even did an article on it. Well, it hasn’t turned out that way. A week back WNYC did a big piece on the race, and Brian Lehrer barely mentioned Israel.

How did this happen? Basically, the two candidates in the heavily-Jewish district outstripped one another in standing up for Israel. And it doesn’t matter that Weprin is an Orthodox Jew; no, Bob Turner, who isn’t Jewish, is doubling down on Israel sentiment. And Weprin has condemned Obama’s Israel policy as “outrageous.”

This same dynamic explains Allen West’s histrionics in Florida.

Republican West took the Palm Beach County district from a Jewish Democrat, Ron Klein; according to the Almanac of American Politics, the district is “home to many Jewish retirees from New York and the Northeast… very active in condominium groups.” I.e., these folks are liberal on a lot of issues, but they’re hard-core on Zionism.

And ever since he’s gotten in, West, maybe fearful of losing the district to a challenger who may well be Jewish, has demonstrated his pro-Israel bona-fides, like with the crazy letter he sent out the other day, praising Netanyahu to the skies and calling Obama Neville Chamberlain.

This happened in Brooklyn. Back in July, former NY mayor Ed Koch endorsed Republican Bob Turner, who is not Jewish, for the Weiner seat and said that the endorsement was a shot across Obama‘s bow, for having thrown Israel under the bus.

Well right after that David Weprin called Obama’s Israel policy “outrageous” and said he would be stronger than Weiner on Israel– Weiner who says there’s no such thing as settlements. Weprin:

“I thought it was outrageous the way he treated Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was at the White House,” he said. “He started a meeting and he left him there, abandoned him. It was something that was unheard of with any head of state, never mind the head of the only real ally the United States has in the Middle East.”

And here’s the Gay City News, reporting on Koch:



“My support of Bob Turner is to send a message to President Obama that he should not take the vote of the Jewish community for granted,” he said. “Many, myself included, think he has thrown Israel under the bus.

This also explains why Michael Grimm, who holds a swing seat in another part of Brooklyn, went to Israel this summer and is also praising the Jewish state to the skies. The issue is actually not politicized. It’s an article of faith…