First he did, the Plum Line:

“In an interview with me, Dem Rep Robert Wexler, a leading voice in Congress on Israeli-Arab affairs, made a fascinating point, arguing that one of the most important lines in Obama’s Cairo speech was this one:

“America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and we will say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs.”

Wexler told me he thinks that Obama’s promise to “say in public what we say in private” to all parties was “one of the critical lines in the speech, even though casual observers may gloss over it.”

Wexler explained that this one line concealed far more significance for his audience than many would appreciate. He said Obama was reassuring Arabs that America would no longer give wink-wink-nudge-nudge private support for Israeli military actions, a vow that will have great resonance in the Arab world.”

After Mike Goldfarb nabbed him on the comments Wexler is now backpeddling.

“Florida Rep. Robert Wexler’s constituents will be much relieved to learn that their congressman is not standing by a comment he made just a few hours ago in support of President Obama’s statement that “America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and we will say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs.” Wexler told Greg Sargent that he understood Obama’s comment to mean “it is no longer acceptable to say in private, `Go Israelis, take on Hezbollah,’ or `Go Israelis, take on Iran.” In other words, Wexler was pleased that Obama would no longer privately support Israeli military operations against terrorist organizations.

Except Wexler has now clarified those comments:

Wexler just called to say that this isn’t what he meant to say. He says he thought that Obama was saying it would no longer be acceptable for Arab states to tacitly signal support for Israeli military actions while saying something else publicly. He says he didn’t realize Obama was referring to America saying the same thing privately as it says publicly.”

I sent to this to all the local media here in South Florida, let’s see who bites and follows up.

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