And from the Jerusalem Post...

Ministers of the Knesset (MK's) weigh in on Sen. Obama's clinching of the nomination. The Likud Party, not suprisingly, is the most upset, while the other parties' representatives all say, essentially, that 'both will be good but McCain will be better.'

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'Following US Sen. Barack Obama's victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton early Wednesday morning, MKs from across the political spectrum warned not to discount the newly-crowned Democratic candidate as a potential supporter of Israel.

"We must remember that no American president will act in the way that we fear the most - no matter which candidate, Israel is important to American non-Jews," said MK Benny Elon (NU/NRP), the leader of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus.

"It is dangerous, incorrect and unhealthy to begin to get into all kinds of unproductive comments against Obama or to preemptively launch an anti-Obama campaign," he added. "I think it's a great mistake to begin to make him into Muhammad or to talk about him being photographed as an Arab. It is incorrect hysteria."

Elon did, however, acknowledge that so far, Republican candidate John McCain's voting record was solidly more "positive."'

Why they hate us, Iran edition

A young gentleman much more brilliant than I clued me in to this in one of my history classes. This is from 'The Iran Contra Connection,' by Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott and Jane Hunter -
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"... Israeli interests in non-Arab Iran became prominent as early as the 1 950s, when Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, cooperated with the CIA in establishing the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. A 1979 CIA report on Mossad notes that:

'The main purpose of the Israeli relationship with Iran was the development of a pro-Israel and anti-Arab policy on the part of Iranian officials. Mossad has engaged in joint operations with SAVAK over the years since the late 1950s. Mossad aided SAVAK activities and supported the Kurds in Iraq. The Israelis also regularly transmitted to the Iranians intelligence reports on Egypt's activities in the Arab countries, trends and developments in Iraq, and Communist activities affecting Iran.'"

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The rest of a short excerpt. Evidently when SAVAK was 'extraordinarily rendering' some young Iranian student who'd made nasty comments about the Shah, there was occasionally either a Mossad or CIA guy present. Personally I try not to armchair quarterback the Israeli and American intelligence services, undoubtedly this seemed like a better idea at the time than it does today. But it seems to me that it helps explain their attitudes with something more believable than 'they hate our freedoms.'

Nuance, addendum

Disagreeing with actions taken by the Government of Israel does not equal anti-semitism.