Subject: Re: Hillary Clinton to Jewish donors: I’ll be better for Israel than Obama - POLITICO
From: Christina Reynolds <[email-masked]>
To: Robby Mook <[email-masked]>
Cc: Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>, Oren Shur <[email-masked]>, John Podesta <[email-masked]>, Jake Sullivan <[email-masked]>, Nick Merrill <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2015 12:17:21 -0400

We could either get a donor to leak it or just give it to a reporter if we
want to get it out there. I'm semi-surprised it's not out yet.

On Jul 3, 2015, at 12:15 PM, Robby Mook <[email-masked]> wrote:

Do we need to push it harder over the next few days?  Get something
written?  I feel like we're going to want something to point to. Or maybe
even just content on the website?

On Jul 3, 2015, at 12:12 PM, Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>
wrote:

That's basically the goal of the BDS letter.

On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 12:11 PM, Robby Mook <[email-masked]> wrote:

> I was just thinking: has she made a clear statement on Israel yet?  I get
> this question from donors all the time.  Does she need to state her
> principles on Israel before Iran?  Or do both at the same time?
>
>
>
> On Jul 3, 2015, at 10:00 AM, Oren Shur <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
> This article seems to make the case for the Mook approach - clear, direct
> and principled.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* Ian Sams <[email-masked]>
> *Date:* July 3, 2015 at 9:31:09 AM EDT
> *To:* Clips <[email-masked]>
> *Subject:* *Hillary Clinton to Jewish donors: I’ll be better for Israel
> than Obama - POLITICO*
>
>
>
> http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-jewish-donors-israel-119705.html
>
> Hillary Clinton to Jewish donors: I’ll be better for Israel than Obama
>
> But the former secretary of state is sending mixed signals on the
> president's Iran deal.
>
>
> By Kenneth P. Vogel <http://www.politico.com/reporters/KennethPVogel.html>
>  and Tarini Parti <http://www.politico.com/reporters/TariniParti.html>
>
> 7/3/15 6:33 AM EDT
>
> Updated 7/3/15 6:33 AM EDT
>
>
> Hillary Clinton is privately signaling to wealthy Jewish donors that — no
> matter the result of the Iranian nuclear negotiations
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/iran-nuclear-talks-geneva-john-kerry-5-things-to-watch-119482.html>
> — she will be a better friend to Israel than President Barack Obama.
>
> But, even as donors increasingly push Clinton on the subject in private,
> they have emerged with sometimes widely varying interpretations about
> whether she would support a prospective deal, according to interviews with
> more than 10 influential donors and fundraising operatives.
>
> Story Continued Below
>
> Clinton’s private responses in some ways resemble a foreign policy
> Rorschach test; donors who see a deal as important to world peace have come
> away thinking that Clinton shares their perspective, but so, too, do donors
> who oppose any prospective agreement as compromising Israeli security.
>
> Publicly, she’s expressed support
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/clinton-on-iran-deal-diplomacy-deserves-a-chance-to-succeed-116646.html>
> for the negotiating process, which she secretly initiated
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clintons-secret-iran-man-116647.html>
> during her time as secretary of state, but has also said “no
> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/hillary-clinton-iran_n_5323991.html>
> deal is better than a bad
> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/hillary-clinton-iran_n_5323991.html>
> deal
> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/hillary-clinton-iran_n_5323991.html>
> .”
>
> With the talks heading into the home stretch in
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/iran-nuclear-talks-extended-119584.html>
> Vienna
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/iran-nuclear-talks-extended-119584.html>,
> the issue is emerging as an early test for Clinton’s presidential campaign.
> She’s already struggling to balance two of her biggest strengths as a
> candidate — her deep foreign policy track record and her vaunted
> fundraising ability — and that balance could become even trickier if
> there’s a deal.
>
> “Whatever way you go, there will be some people who won’t like it,” said
> Sarah Kovner, a prominent New York donor
> <http://politicalpartytime.org/party/38482/> who is a leading bundler for
> Clinton’s campaign and worked in Bill Clinton’s presidential
> administration. “You can’t have everybody with you. You’ve got to do what
> you think is right for the country.”
>
> The negotiations are of intense interest for some Jewish donors whose
> political giving is animated by their support for Israel. They’re being
> counted on by Clinton’s allies to donate huge sums for a campaign and a
> pair of supportive super PACs that, taken together, are expected to raise
> $2 billion or more.
>
> Clinton’s campaign rejected any suggestion that she’s trying to have it
> both ways on Iran.
>
> “Her support for the negotiating process and touting support for Israel
> are not contradictory,” said Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill. “A strong deal
> is good for Israel in her view.”
>
> And several people who’ve heard her address the issue say the fact that
> different people can come away with such different interpretations is a
> testament to her nuanced approach to the issue and her skill as a
> politician, rather than any vacillation on the subject.
>
> “That’s just smart politics,” said one donor who supports the negotiations
> and recently talked to her about them. “Because, right now, you have the
> freedom to say all those things, so why would you commit and box yourself
> in until you saw what the deal was?”
>
> Clinton recently told another pro-deal donor that she was “very supportive
> of the negotiating process,” the donor recalled, while a third funder said
> she boasted of her role in starting the talks. “So it seemed like she was
> supporting it,” recalled the funder.
>
> And, at a Manhattan fundraiser last week featuring a largely Jewish group
> of donors, Clinton defended Obama against charges he had weakened the
> U.S.-Israel relationship, asserting that such criticism stemmed from a
> “perception” problem, according to a donor who was present. But she also
> suggested that if she were elected president she could correct that problem
> and bring the two nations closer.
>
> “Diplomacy is all about personal relationships, and I’ve got my own
> relationships,” she said, referencing her two-decade association with
> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an ardent opponent of the Iran
> deal and, occasionally, of Obama. Clinton even cited her rapport with
> former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, who last week published
> a book that was brutally critical of the Obama administration and was timed
> for release to try to stymie the Iran
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/michael-oren-new-book-obama-iran-deal-119317.html>
> deal
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/michael-oren-new-book-obama-iran-deal-119317.html>.
> “I know Michael well, but I haven’t read the book,” she said.
>
> At a fundraiser last month at the Long Island home of Democratic donor Jay
> Jacobs, Clinton was asked by an Orthodox rabbi about threats to Israel’s
> security. “She did stress in no uncertain terms her full and fervent
> support of the state of Israel and the defense of the state of Israel,”
> recalled Jacobs. “And the people in the audience who heard it seemed to be
> comfortable with her answer.”
>
> Likewise, donors at a different New York fundraiser seemed to fully accept
> her answer to a slightly different question about the U.S. interest in the
> deal, said billionaire hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, a leading Clinton
> donor. “She said ‘I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of the U.S.,’
> and that was the end of it,” Lasry said.
>
> Dan Berger, a Philadelphia lawyer and major Democratic donor who supports
> the framework of a deal, cautioned that the interests of the U.S. and
> Israel, “although close, are not identical. It might not be in the best
> interest of American Jews, but it’s got to be in the best interest of the
> majority of the people.” He urged Jewish donors “to take a step back and
> look at the complexity and judge the agreement based on its merits,”
> adding: “I’d hope Hillary would judge it based on its merits and not on
> political support.”
>
> Lasry rejected the suggestion that Clinton would even consider the
> fundraising implications when assessing any deal.
>
> But Clinton’s senior foreign policy advisers have briefed interested
> wealthy donors on both the negotiations over the deal and its prospects for
> congressional approval, according to one donor who recently talked to a top
> Clinton aide.
>
> “It’s a tricky issue for her,” said the donor who was briefed, arguing
> that Jewish donors who oppose a deal and favor military intervention in
> Iran “are going to put her in a box.”
>
> Clinton’s allies are carefully monitoring the sensitivities of a handful
> of hawkish Democratic mega-donors for signs that the Iran talks may be
> influencing their willingness to write million-dollar super PAC checks.
> Chief among that group is billionaire Hollywood entrepreneur Haim Saban,
> who sources say has spoken multiple times with Clinton and her top aides
> about the deal.
>
> In April, he strongly suggested
> <http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/239091-saban-hints-clinton-opposes-the-iran-deal>
> that Clinton opposed the deal. “I know where she stands, but I can’t talk
> about it,” Saban told an Israeli television news channel, adding under
> questioning, “She has an opinion, a very well-defined opinion. And in any
> case, everything that she thinks and everything she has done and will do
> will always be for the good of Israel. We don’t need to worry about this.”
>
> He soon backtracked, saying “I
> <http://freebeacon.com/politics/top-pro-israel-donor-unsure-of-clintons-position-on-iran-deal/>
> have no idea
> <http://freebeacon.com/politics/top-pro-israel-donor-unsure-of-clintons-position-on-iran-deal/>
> what Hillary thinks about the Iran deal.”
>
> And multiple prominent Jewish donors who joined Saban at a White House
> meeting
> <http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/238669-obama-pleads-with-jewish-groups-to-back-iran-deal>
> with Obama in April to discuss the Iran negotiations said Saban expressed
> open-mindedness about supporting the deal, though one participant suggested
> his opinion shouldn’t hold as much weight as those of foreign policy
> professionals.
>
> “Haim Saban is a very smart businessman who has a tremendous amount of
> love for the Clintons, but I don’t think he is the most sophisticated
> policy analyst that there is,” said the donor.
>
> Saban’s representatives did not respond to questions about his
> interactions with Clinton.
>
> But on Thursday, POLITICO reported
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/soros-helps-pro-clinton-super-pacs-to-20-million-haul-119669.html?ml=po>
> that he donated $2 million this year to a super PAC supporting her
> presidential campaign, which Democratic finance sources interpreted as a
> sign that Saban’s financial support will not be conditioned on Clinton
> taking a certain stance on the Iran deal.
>
> Steve Rabinowitz, a Democratic consultant who worked in the Clinton White
> House and was a co-founder of Jewish Americans Ready for Hillary, argued
> that the Iran deal isn’t going to be a deciding issue for either donors or
> voters.
>
> “Do people in my community talk about the Iran deal? Sure. But is it
> affecting their support for Hillary Clinton? No,” he said. “Iran certainly
> will — and already has — become a talking point, but it will not move three
> votes or $3.”
>
> Clinton has the potential to bring along donors like Saban who might have
> been skeptical of negotiating with Iran, argued the Long Island donor
> Jacobs. “Hillary has a lot of credibility and support in the Jewish
> community. It’s broad and deep. People understand that she has fought and
> has been there as an advocate,” he said. “So when she speaks on the issue,
> there will be more people in the Jewish community who have perhaps unfairly
> not appreciated President Obama’s support who will at least give her view a
> more open-minded assessment.”
>
> If Clinton backs any eventual deal, its proponents will be under pressure
> to step up their giving — both to the Clinton super PACs and to pro-deal
> groups — because she is likely to come under heavy fire from deep-pocketed
> groups
> <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/14-million-ad-buy-targets-obamas-iran-deal-119353.html>
> that oppose the deal.
>
> “If there’s a deal, and she comes out in favor of it, you can be sure
> there will be a great deal of fire trained on her,” said Noah Pollak, the
> executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel. The conservative
> group has worked to rally opposition to the talks and this week began
> airing an ad
> <http://www.timesofisrael.com/influential-ny-senator-urged-to-tip-balance-in-iran-talks/>
> pressuring New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is considered a key
> vote on the deal, to oppose it.
>
> The left-leaning Israel advocacy group J Street, which has worked to build
> support for the deal, is expected to come to the defense of supporters,
> including potentially Clinton, though on some issues, the group’s members
> regard her as too hawkish for their tastes.
>
> “For people who speak on these Middle East issues on which we have strong
> positions, we come to their support and defense on those issues, regardless
> of party, regardless of candidacy,” said Victor A Kovner, a Democratic
> donor who chairs J Street’s PAC.
>
> Kovner, like his wife, Sarah Kovner, is backing Clinton, and said he has
> communicated his support for a deal to the candidate.
>
> “She is familiar with my view, but she has a lot of supporters and
> advisers on both sides of this question — around the nation, both within
> the Jewish community and beyond the Jewish community.”
>  Authors:
>  View Comments
>
>
> --
> Ian Sams
> (423) 915-6592
>
>