Irish-born Samantha Power has been accused of selling out to the Israeli lobby in order to become UN Ambassador. An article by MJ Rosenberg in the liberal jewish publication “Tikkun” recalls how Power broke down in tears and apologized abjectly to a room full of Israeli supporters, after she had made controversial remarks.

In the article entitled “Samantha Power sells out to lobby to win UN job,” Rosenberg writes that after Power’s comments in 2002 in a videotaped interview which appeared to indicate that she felt America should intervene on the Palestinians behalf, major Israeli groups stormed the White House. They sought to ensure that she did not receive a major post in the first Obama administration

That incident taken together with  her comments about Hillary Clinton whom she described as a “monster”  ensured she did not receive a major posting in the first Obama administration.

Rosenberg writes that, “Power wanted more in an Obama second term and that required inoculating herself against charges that were made against her in 2008. And so she made the rounds — visiting neocons, Jewish organizations, and Israeli officials – and assuring potential adversaries that she was sorry.”

He adds that, “Orthodox Rabbi Shmuely Boteach ... reveals that in 2011 Power approached him to say she wanted “to go on the record about her comments on Israel and how they had been misunderstood.” He then convened a “closed-door meeting of about 40 American Jewish leaders who represented a wide spectrum of our communities most important organizations.” In the meeting Power denied “animus toward Israel.”

Botach stated that, “In the presence of the leaders of our community, she suddenly became deeply emotional and struggled to complete her presentation as she expressed how deeply such accusations had affected her. Tears streamed down her cheeks and I think it fair to say that there was no one in the room who wasn’t deeply moved by this incredible display of pain and emotion.”

“More than a few of the leaders in the room came over to me afterward and said that, based on her comments and her unabashed display of emotional attachment to the security of the Jewish people … they would never again question her commitment to Israel’s security.”

Botach now says that he “take[s] my yarmulke off ” to salute President Obama’s nomination of Power and all the major Israeli groups in the U.S. are supporting her as well as the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.

Rosenberg concludes, “Unfortunately for Power, the reality of U.S. politics dictates that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be exempted from rules or theories one applies elsewhere. That is why some of the most aggressively anti-war, pro-human rights progressives in Congress, the media and the blogosphere simply go silent, at best, on the subject of the Israeli occupation or, at worst, openly support military actions like Israel’s wars in Gaza. They know that the Israel lobby will make life very difficult for those who insist on applying the same moral yardstick to Israel.”