Israel Matzav

More on Jews and Obama

Jennifer Rubin points out the downside of the Quinnipiac poll that was released on Thursday that showed that two thirds of American Jews disapprove of President Obama's handling of Israel.

Jonathan, it’s certainly heartening to see that a large percentage of Jews (67 percent) have woken up to Obama’s anti-Israel bent and disapprove of his Middle East policy. Unfortunately, the same pollsters show that 59 percent of Jews still approve of his overall performance. What that tells us is that a large number of Jews just don’t care all that much about Obama’s policy. This, unfortunately, fits with findings of the McLaughlin poll: most Jews, especially Reform Jews, remain extremely liberal and focused on domestic issues. Obama’s given them nationalized health care and is going to deliver another pro-Roe v. Wade Supreme Court justice. So what that he’s anti-Israel. That’s what it comes down to for a very significant segment of American Jews.

This is a huge challenge — how to elevate concern about Israel to a top-tier political issue for American Jewry. It is not merely a political one but one that also should concern our shuls and Jewish educators. If Jews don’t prioritize their concern about Israel, then they cease to be effective advocates for a robust U.S.-Israel relationship, and politicians will quickly learn there is no downside to pummeling the Jewish state.

So how many of you are going to the rally in New York on Sunday. Better question: How many of you from outside the New York area are going to the rally in New York on Sunday? When Yasser Arafat appeared at the UN in 1974, there was a huge rally in New York the Sunday or Monday before. I was home in Boston for election day break. There were chartered buses from Boston that brought people to New York for the rally (that's how I went). Dozens of them. And we weren't the only city - people came from as far as Cleveland and Detroit for that rally. How many people are doing that now? I'm going to bet very few. Is the danger any less today?

But I'm not as pessimistic as Jennifer over the fact that Jews don't support Israel. It's a shame, but it's honestly not surprising that people who have replaced Judaism with Liberalism wouldn't care too much about Israel. As I've said before, in terms of numbers of supporters, for now at least, the Christians far outnumber the Jews.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:18 PM