Emergency Committee for Israel
The Emergency Committee for Israel is a right-wing[1] 501(c)(4) political advocacy organization in the United States.[2] The group's board members include Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, and former member, conservative writer Rachel Abrams,[2] wife of Elliott Abrams.[3] Noah Pollak is its executive director.[2]
Kristol said his group, created in mid-2010, was inspired by the new "liberal" J Street group, "whose ability to amplify criticism of the Israeli government showed the power of a small new group—if on the other side of the debate." Pollak said, shortly after the group's creation, that it planned to be involved in a number of congressional races. "We want to be hard-hitting; we want to get into the debate and shake things up and make some points in a firm way", he said.[2]
As it started up, the organization ran ads opposing the elections of U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak[2][4][5] and U.S. House of Representatives candidates Rush D. Holt, Jr., Mary Jo Kilroy, and John F. Tierney, portraying them as "openly hostile" to Israel.[6]
In October 2011, the committee produced a video portraying Occupy Wall Street as anti-Semitic.[7] Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen referred to the video and said he found no evidence of antisemitism during his two visits to the demonstration site.[8]
In February 2012, the committee produced a 30-minute documentary covering President Barack Obama's record on Israel.[9] The documentary was viewed 200,000 times in its first week.
In June 2012, the committee ran an ad encouraging the US Government to immediately put an end to Iran's nuclear program.[10] The ad ran in New York; Washington, DC; and additional markets.
In October 2012, the group released a robo-call which combined clips of Obama from 2009 and 2011 and a clip from a speech Benjamin Netanyahu gave in 2012, in a form that appeared as if the two were having a debate.[11] Pollak said that month that his group would release further "secret Obama—Netanyahu debate recordings".[11]
In January 2013, the grouped launched a web site opposing the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
References
- ^ Sargent, Greg (July 19, 2010). "War escalates between Joe Sestak and right-wing pro-Israel group". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Smith, Ben (July 12, 2010). "Group to oppose President Obama's Mideast policy". Politico.
- ^ "Conservatives launch group to attack supporters of Obama's Israel policies". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 13, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012.
- ^ Pareene, Alex (July 12, 2010). "Bill Kristol will protect Israel with attack ads against Democrats: The Emergency Committee for Israel says Joe Sestak loves terrorists". Salon.
- ^ O'Toole, James (July 25, 2010). "Ads target Jewish voters: Senate nominee Sestak may be forced to defend his pro-Israel stance". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Adam Kredo. "To tell the truth:J Street treads on partisan territory as it attacks new pro-Israel group as out-of-step". Washington Jewish Week. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
- ^ Benhorin, Yitzhak (October 16, 2011). "Anti-Semitism tainting Occupy Wall Street protests". Ynet.
- ^ Cohen, Richard (October 24, 2011). "Where are the anti-Semites of Occupy Wall Street?". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
- ^ "Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel". youtube.com.
- ^ Miller, Zeke (June 14, 2012). "GOP Group's Ad: Bomb Iran". BuzzFeed.
- ^ a b Kampeas, Ron (October 29, 2012). "ECI's made-up Bibi-Obama robocall 'debate'-UPDATED". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
External links
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