Liberal think tank tied to Obama,accused of anti-Semitic language

Several major Jewish groups say staffers at the Center for AmericanProgress have used anti-Semitic language to attack pro-Israel Americans.

By Peter Wallsten, Updated: Thursday, January 19, 8:45 AM

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank closely aligned with theWhite House, is embroiled in a dispute with several major Jewish organizationsover statements on Israel and charges that some center staffers have used anti-Semitic language to attack pro-Israel Americans.The controversy reflects growing divisions among important allies of PresidentObama over Middle East policy that could complicate the president¶s reelectionoutreach to some Jewish voters, just as he is seeking to assure them of hiscommitment to Israel¶s security amid fears of an Iran nuclear threat.Among the points of contention are several Twitter posts by one CAP writer referring to ³Israel-firsters.´ Some experts say the phrase has its roots in theanti-Semitic charge that American Jews are more loyal to a foreign country. Inanother case, a second staffer described a U.S. senator as showing more fealtyto Israel and the prime U.S. pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public AffairsCommittee, than to his own constituents, replacing a standard identifier of partyaffiliation and state with ³R-AIPAC´ on Twitter.Critics are also pointing to writings on the CAP Web site, where staffers havesuggested the pro-Israel lobby is pushing the U.S. toward war with Iran andlikened Israel¶s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza to the policies of thesegregated American South.

Those statements, among others, have gained notice largely because of CAP¶sinfluential role in Obama¶s Washington. Founded and chaired by John Podesta,a onetime chief of staff in the Clinton White House, the center is an ideagenerator for the administration and a source for many of its top officials. Theexecutive who headed the arm overseeing the CAP bloggers, Jennifer Palmieri,recently became a top communications official in the White House, andPodesta is now a part-time adviser to the State Department.Several major Jewish groups have demanded corrective action by the think tank and asked for answers from friends in the White House.³The language is corrosive and unacceptable,´ said Rabbi Abraham Cooper,associate director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He added that the blog postsand tweets from CAP staffers ³are the responsibility of the adults who run the place, not only the kids who play.Ćooper conveyed his concerns about CAP during a private White Housemeeting last week with Obama¶s newly hired Jewish community liaison.The White House official, Jarrod Bernstein, told Cooper that the situation atCAP was ³troubling,´ adding ³that is not this administration.Á White House spokesman, Matt Lehrich, declined to comment on CAP. Hesaid Obama ³has repeatedly reiterated America¶s unshakable commitment toIsrael¶s security and stood up against attempts to single out Israel ininternational forums.´ He added that the administration has ³ratcheted upunprecedented pressure on Iran.Ábraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said someof the statements from CAP staffers ³are anti-Semitic and borderline anti-Semitic.´³We¶re concerned about it because this is a serious think tank, and it doesinfluence the administration,´ Foxman added. CAP is run by ³serious peoplewho need to take control of their entities.´Jason Isaacson, an official with the American Jewish Committee, which oftencollaborates on policy issues with CAP, pointed to ³very troubling things thathave been written on a pretty regular basis by certain people associated with theorganization.´

³For any serious policy center there are certain lines of fairness and objectivityand good sense that should not be crossed, and yet, disturbingly, those lineshave regularly been crossed,´ Isaacson added.Officials from the center counter that the ³inappropriate´ language came onlyin personal tweets from staffers ² not on CAP¶s Web site or its Think Progress blog. The tweets were deleted and the authors apologized.Officials said the center is staunchly pro-Israel.³The clear and overwhelming record of the literally hundreds of articles and policy papers from the Center for American Progress and ThinkProgressdemonstrates our longstanding support both for Israel and the two-state solutionto the Middle East Peace Process as being in the moral and national securityinterests of the United States,´ wrote Ken Gude , chief of staff and vice president for CAP, in an e-mail response to questions from The Post.³We have a zero-tolerance policy for racism, sexism, anti-Semitism or anyform of discrimination,´ Gude wrote.He said CAP has adopted a new policy requiring staffers to adhere to professional standards on Twitter. In addition, Zaid Jilani, the author of the³Israel-firster´ tweets, apologized and left CAP¶s staff in recent days to takeanother job. Jilani could not be reached for comment.Center officials tried to address concerns over an August Think Progress posttitled, ³AIPAC¶s Iran Strategy On Sanctions Mirrors Run-Up To Iraq War Tactics,´ which suggested the pro-Israel lobby was consistently pushing theU.S. toward war. An update asserted that ³we are not reporting on whether AIPAC lobbied for the Iraq war´ and that the center is ³very concerned aboutIran¶s nuclear program.´Gude, in an e-mail, added that CAP does not believe AIPAC is pushing for war with Iran. ³Iran¶s policy choices are driving this situation, not anyone or anygroup in the United States,´ he wrote.CAP also recently hired former Virginia representative Tom Perriello to bechief executive for the Action Fund, the center¶s advocacy arm, which overseesthe Think Progress blog. Perriello said in an interview that CAP operates in the³mainstream´ on Israel and is ³committed to doing rigorous, thoughtful andsubstantive work addressing how seriously we take these threats in the MiddleEast.´