Israel Matzav

Obama gets OU stamp of approval?

For those of you who are not Jewish, or even for those who are but don't keep Kosher, you should be aware that the OU (Orthodox Union or Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations) is best known for it's Kosher seal of approval - the U with an O around it that you see in the picture above - on food products worldwide. It is also the largest organization servicing 'modern Orthodox' Jews in the United States and Canada. Has Barack Hussein Obama been granted an OU?

I ask because less than a week after the OU refused to join in the struggle against Obama's plan to force religious organizations to fund abortions, the organization has now 'advised' Prime Minister Netanyahu - in a very public manner no less - not to meet with any of the Republican candidates for the Presidency while he is in the United States next week.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should not meet with Republican presidential candidates during his upcoming trip to Washington so as not to be perceived as taking sides in the campaign, Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union (OU), said this week.

...

A source in the Prime Minister’s Office said that while no final decision had been made on whether Netanyahu would meet the Republican presidential candidates, it was not likely he would meet with one if could not meet with all four – Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul – which was an unlikely occurrence.

In past election years, the source said, Israel’s prime minister had generally met only with presidential candidates after their party’s convention.

I can accept Netanyahu not meeting with any Republican candidates if he can't meet with three of the four (Santorum, Gingrich and Romney - I don't think he should meet with Ron Paul). But if the reason he's not going to meet with them is that he can't meet with all of them (a reason that makes sense given that the nomination is still contested), he ought to meet with the Republican leadership in Congress - John Boehner and Eric Cantor in the House and Mitch McConnell in the Senate. We can be assured that President Obama will do all he can to use Netanyahu's visit for the benefit of his own campaign, and Netanyahu ought to counter that by being seen with Republicans.

By the way, despite the best efforts of a certain Democratic activist within the OU's leadership (full disclosure: I was a national officer in the OU's youth group many years ago and am still in contact with the organization), Nathan Diament admits in the article that members of the OU's constituent synagogues voted 3-1 for John McCain in 2008. This time, God willing, that vote will be even more overwhelming in favor of the Republican nominee.

Read the whole thing.

So no, Obama doesn't have an OU seal of approval yet, and given how unpopular he is in the modern Orthodox Jewish community, I doubt he'll be getting one any time soon. But there are still people within the organization who are doing all they can to minimize the damage that can be done to Obama's campaign by members of the modern Orthodox Jewish community.

Labels: AIPAC, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Campaign 2012, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, RIck Santorum, Ron Paul

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:26 AM