Bernie Sanders Is Smart to Keep His Mouth Shut About Israel

[Her Sister]

The U.S. presidential candidate has the Democratic progressive vote in his pocket and is wise not to reveal that, on the Middle East, he stands more to the right than his fans would like him to.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.702148

excerpt:

Unfortunately, there is no reason to expect that Sanders is going to break his silence when it comes to Israel - and the Middle East as a whole - anytime soon. Not when keeping quiet has worked extremely well for him so far....  And so, when pushed during press interviews to address Israel, he has dutifully hit his talking points, which are fairly indistinguishable from Clinton’s or Obama’s, and impressively consistent over more than two decades:

1. It’s depressing.
2. We need a two-state solution.
3. I’m not crazy about the leadership on either side.
4. The United States needs to use its clout to push for peace. 

And then he moves on as quickly as possible without laying out in detail what he would do as president to change the situation, and how that would be different from moves by any of his rivals.  

Sanders and his campaign strategists have clearly made a decision that it is a lose-lose proposition for him to do so. Sanders has no desire to try to compete with Hillary Clinton for the pro-Israel Democratic financial support. There’s no need to attack her since there are plenty of others doing the work for him- from leftist criticism for being too cozy with pro-Israeli supporters like Haim Saban, and from the right for her association with Obama’s policies and the often kooky and disturbing advice of her advisors, as revealed in the recent court-ordered email dumps. 

The one time Sanders took the lead on an Israel-related matter was a year ago, when he was the first member of Congress to declare that he would be deliberately absent from Netanyahu's controversial speech to a joint session of Congress laying out his case against the Iran deal. But that was about the Israeli prime minister’s disrespect for the White House, not a policy statement.
Overall, the Sanders camp has decided that silence is golden at a time when he has much of the Democratic progressive wing in his pocket. There is no reason for him, they figure, to risk alienating the crowds of enthusiastic progressive supporters who are “Feeling the Bern” by reminding them of an issue on which it seems he is much closer to the “establishment” than they are - and would probably like him to be. 

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.702148

[Her Sister]

1. Silence and not being Vetted

IS VERY HELPFUL. Especially when the media let's you get away with it!

[yallerdawg]

3. Bernie supporters like...

the Trump position - which Bernie actually agrees with.

[Her Sister]

4. This newspaper just endorsed HRC but am not subscribed

so cannot read!

How I Chose Between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders
If we are to change America and keep it whole, we need a pragmatic candidate, not one from the parties’ far right or far left who will exacerbate our divisions. Hillary Clinton is that candidate.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.713811?utm_source=trendemon&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=flow

[BlueMTexpat]

6. Haaretz is generally known

for its left-wing and liberal stances. This endorsement is a Big F***ing Deal! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haaretz

Sorry to see that it has moved to subscription-only availability.

[Her Sister]

5. Probably this is a difficult topic

for people to talk about.

In NY this is important. I am an atheist myself but my county is very Jewish and they even celebrate Jewish holidays at my sister's children schools. Our library is closed on Saturdays but not on Sundays.

What galls me is this:

Sanders lives in a world where no explanation is ever required of him.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/12/when-bernie-sanders-conventional-politician-called-for-still-more-mass-incarceration.html