U.S. Bickering A ‘Bad Example,’ Christie Says
(MCT) NEW YORK — America is setting a “bad example” for the rest of the world through its partisan bickering and the “ambivalence” of its foreign policy, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said at an event Sunday featuring prominent advocates for Israel that included one billionaire Republican donor.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, an author and former congressional candidate, organized the event in New York to support one of his charitable organizations and chose Christie as the keynote speaker. Christie used his 16-minute speech to focus on America’s place in the world and, as he has in recent events with a national focus, avoided talk about the George Washington Bridge scandal that has caused many to question his viability as a presidential candidate.
“No one understands any longer who America stands with or against,” said Christie, a two-term Republican governor. “Leadership at home and abroad is the indispensable part of a moral world.”
The audience at the Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala included Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who is expected to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to aid his chosen GOP candidate in the 2016 presidential contest.
Christie’s speech Sunday night carried the same message he delivered before Adelson at the Republican Jewish Coalition convention in Las Vegas in March. Christie criticized President Barack Obama, although he didn’t mention the Democrat by name on Sunday, for failing to act decisively.
A lack of American leadership is creating a vacuum, Christie said, and the hole “is almost never filled by virtue. It is almost always filled by evil. And the rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon, once again, its indispensable place in the world.”
The crowd at the fashionable Cipriani restaurant on Sunday also included actor Sean Penn, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer.
Boteach, of Englewood, N.J., who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for Congress in 2012, said the event was partly aimed at opposing the partisanship pervading American politics.
“To see the country at each other’s throats every night on TV and in op-eds, it’s heart-wrenching,” he said in an interview last week. “I’m hoping this evening will promote the greatest value of all: respecting each other.”
The room was filled with pro-Israel activists, some of whom objected in March after Christie, speaking at the Las Vegas event, described the areas in Israel where Palestinians live as the “occupied territories.” It’s a phrase widely used by both Republicans and Democrats, but it grates some advocates. Christie met with Adelson later that day and reportedly apologized for using the phrase.
Boteach referred to that flub at the start of the dinner when he introduced Christie, Perry and other attendees.
“I will always overlook verbal gaffes,” he said. “I’m not interested in perfect people.”
Despite the non-partisan goal of the gala, political undertones remained, particularly in the relationship between Christie and Adelson. Support from the billionaire, who pumped nearly $100 million into the campaigns of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in 2012, could prove vital for any Republican’s run for president in 2016. Christie, Perry and Adelson sat near each other at the dinner’s head table on Sunday.
In his speech, Christie said national leaders should follow his example of “decisive” leadership in New Jersey.
“Your values, no matter where they come from, will be tested and people need to know that you will stand up and stand for the values you believe in,” he said.
He said the United States should have taken a stronger position on Syria, particularly after it crossed Obama’s “red line” by using chemical weapons in its ongoing civil war.
Tickets for the dinner went for $750 each and benefited This World: The Values Network, Boteach’s non-profit that describes its goals as “advancing universal Jewish values in the media and culture” and “affirming the Jewish people as a light unto the nations.”
Penn was given his award at the event for his role in helping Jacob Ostreicher, an American businessman and Orthodox Jew, escape from house arrest in Bolivia. Ostreicher was arrested and imprisoned in that country for 18 months after authorities accused him of money laundering, although he was never charged.
-Michael Linhorst
———
©2014 The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.