The Real Culprits

The American Jewish community has fallen into a paroxysm of recrimination in the aftermath of Senator Clinton's dropping out of the rally against Iran, and of the disinvitation to Governor Palin that followed. A long article in the newspaper Yated Ne'eman asserts that "the real culprits in this story" were "the die-hard Democrat partisans within the three sponsoring groups" — the United Jewish Communities, the UJA-Federation of New York, and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs — "who were determined to block Palin's appearance at the rally."

Some Palin fans are blaming the rally's organizers, including, improbably, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, one of the most tireless and shrewdest American Jewish leaders we know, and a longtime pioneer in confronting Iran.

Others are blaming Mrs. Clinton for dropping out or the Obama campaign for not making Senator Obama or Senator Biden available to appear at the rally with Ms. Palin. And we don't mind saying it's an important moment. We characterized it in an earlier editorial as a "disgrace" that the political constellation couldn't figure out a way for Ms. Palin to express her sentiments and those of Senator McCain before the thousands of demonstrators making a protest against Iran.

Amid all the searching for villains within America, we'd venture a reminder that it is important to keep an eye on those we'd call the real culprits, President Ahmadinejad of Iran and the supreme leader to whom he reports, Ayatollah Khamenei. Mr. Ahmadinejad made his purpose clear with his speech at the U.N. General Assembly seeking to blame the Jews for the financial crisis. The key for all Americans concerned about stopping Iranian terrorism and the Iranian nuclear program will be to keep our eyes on the real enemy.