You may have receieved in your Inbox, or you may have seen on social media, a long message from the "Department of Public Diplomacy" at Israel’s embassy to Washington essentially endorsing President Obama for reelection.
It’s a fake, the embassy says.
It has been brought to our attention that a fraudulent email is circulating that claims it was sent by the Embassy of Israel’s Department of Public Diplomacy/Public Affairs. The e-mail is related to the U.S. presidential election. This is not an Embassy email and we would urge you to ignore it. Israel does not interfere in the internal affairs of the United States or other countries. Israel and the United States share an unbreakable bond. We cherish the bipartisan support of Democrats and Republicans alike.
Here’s a version that author Ayelet Waldman posted on Facebook. (She didn’t believe it either.)
UPDATE: Steve Sheffey, the Democratic pro-Israel activist in Chicago, tells me in an email that the text is lifted word for word from a piece he wrote in January.
I too have received the chain emails, and I’ve repeatedly replied by saying I wrote it, not the Embassy. Here’s what happened. After it was published, it went viral. Then, somewhere along the way, my name was deleted and the headline was changed to Every Jew Should Read This. It kept going around and around for months. Then, a few weeks ago, I started getting the same email, but now someone along the way added the Israeli Embassy. I have no idea who.
