The Republican Jewish Coalition called on Wesley Clark to apologize for claiming that “New York money people” were trying to push the United States into war with Iran. Clark, a former NATO commander and likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, was quoted on the Huffington Post political blog as saying that his greatest worry is that the Bush administration will attack Iran. Attending swearing-in parties for the new U.S. Congress, Clark told Arianna Huffington, “The Jewish community is divided, but there is so much pressure being channeled from the New York money people to the office seekers.”
In its ads, the RJC says the comment “echoed a classic anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and money.”
Last week the Anti-Defamation League accepted an explanation from Clark, who said in a letter that he backed dialogue with Iran while not removing a military option.
Dialogue? Ahmadinejad: "Destroy Israeli Jews." Clark: "Destroy only Jews with money."
“My position on Iran should not be misinterpreted, defined out of context or used to create conspiracy theories about one group’s influence on U.S. foreign policy,” he wrote. “There is no place in these critical policy debates for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that blame the Jewish community for the war in Iraq and for action against Iran.”