DENVER (JTA) — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic Party leader, urged Jewish leaders to push back against what she said were distortions of President Obama’s Israel record.
Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, defended Obama on Monday to the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America taking place this year in Denver, calling attacks on his Israel record "deliberate distortions."
She urged those attending to "spread the word" about his increases in defense assistance to the Jewish state, and noted the recent coordination with Israel countering the Palestinian push for statehood recognition at the United Nations.
"Israel should never be used as a political football," she said.
Republican and conservative critics of Obama have emphasized diplomatic tensions between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
