News Brief

A Jewish group will address the concerns of retired Israeli security officials who say their words were used out of context in a pro-Barack Obama video.

Mik Moore, the co-executive director of the Jewish Council for Education and Research, said the Israeli producers of the film in support of the Democratic presidential candidate “have assured us that all participants were fully informed of the nature of this project.” He added, though, that if “there are folks who are unhappy, we will work with them to come to some resolution.” Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy and retired Maj.-Gen. Uzi Dayan were among seven retired Israeli security officials who appear in the eight-minute video, which was released Monday by the Jewish Council. The pair told Israeli newspapers that they were interviewed about what issues the next American president will have to deal with in the Middle East and had no idea their comments would be used to back a candidate. “It wasn’t about the campaign, it was about the political and security issues of the Middle East that the next president should be involved in,” Dayan told The Jerusalem Post. “Nothing was said about Obama or McCain.” He added, “I don’t want other people to interfere in my elections, and I must not interfere with the elections in the United States.” Halevy told the Post that he was complimentary to both candidates in the video and it would be inappropriate for an Israeli to advise an American for whom to vote. Moore said the video is devoted mostly to analysis of the security situation and the candidates’ policies in dealing with it. He pointed out that just one of the seven interviewed actually says he would vote for Obama.

Retired Brig. Gen. Giora Inbar said, “I personally would vote for Obama to help the State of Israel.”