Former Israel ambassador defends Obama on Wright controversy

Speaking before a group of young Jewish leaders, a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday pushed back against attacks that the Illinois senator is too close to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s longtime pastor.

{mosads}Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, reiterated Obama’s rejection of Wright’s inflammatory comments, including Wright’s statement of “God damn America” for treating citizens as “less than human.” Conservative pundits have said that Obama’s relationship with Wright shows that Obama won't be able to bring the kind of change he talks about.

“We would not want to be judged by rabbis who sometimes say ridiculous things,” Kurtzer said at a conference of the United Jewish Communities in Washington D.C. “We would hope that we would be strong enough to denounce them, as the senator has done with his pastor.”

Kurtzer also addressed persisting rumors that Obama is a Muslim.

“There are e-mails, there are innuendos, there are the kinds of things that we as a community have suffered over the years at the hands of anti-Semites, so I think it really behooves us to listen carefully to what [Obama] says,” Kurtzer said.

He appeared at the conference with Ann Lewis, a senior advisor to the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), and Lawrence Eagleburger, the former secretary of state who is advising Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

At several points, Lewis and Eagleburger expressed skepticism of Kurtzer and the Obama campaign’s views.

When Kurtzer said that former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski had never been an advisor to the Obama campaign, Lewis retorted: “Let the record reflect that Lawrence Eagleburger and I share some surprise” at that statement.

Both Lewis and Eagleburger also took issue with Obama’s position that he would meet with leaders of Iran and Syrian in his first year in office. Eagleburger said that people who have advocated for the destruction of Israel don’t deserve the chance to meet with the president.

Kurtzer responded by saying that Obama would conduct a tough brand of diplomacy, something that President Bush had not done.

“I’m a little bit surprised that all of the Diplomacy 101 lessons have gone out the window,” Kurtzer replied.