Israel Matzav

American Jewry: More powerful than they think, if only they'd use it

How much influence does the American Jewish community have over the Obama White House? Plenty says Evelyn Gordon, if only they would dare to use it.

And while American Jews sometimes wonder how much clout they really have under a Democratic administration, the consensus seems to be “plenty.” Consider, for instance, this New York Times piece on Turkey’s radicalization, which quoted unnamed “analysts” as saying that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s behavior toward Israel “boxes in the Obama administration, forcing it into a choice between allies that the Turks are sure to lose.”

Bizarrely, the Web version offers no explanation of this assertion. But in the print version of the Times’ overseas edition, the International Herald Tribune, the next paragraph does: “‘If Obama is faced with the choice of the American Jewish community or Turkey, he’s not going to choose Turkey,’ said a former American diplomat.”

The same would undoubtedly be true were Obama faced with a choice between American Jews and a UN flotilla inquiry. Unfortunately, American Jews have yet to present him with such a choice.

Of course, they haven't. Presenting a choice like that is meaningless unless you are willing to follow through on it if the President makes the wrong choice. But American Jewry - which has a mental bloc against voting for non-Democrats - is incapable of presenting the choice and following through on it.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:05 AM