Profiled in all his ugliness in The New Yorker this week: Billionaire Sheldon Adelson is the third richest man in America, a huge funder of birthright israel, Bush’s election campaigns, the ZOA, the Republican Jewish Caucus (check out the new RJC Watch blog, by the way), One Jerusalem, AIPAC…the list goes on. You’re looking at the sugardaddy-Godfather of American (Jewish) right-wingery here.
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Just in case the definition of the Jewish right-wing is in question, the Zionist Organization of America is cause for pause. Ami Eden’s JTA blogging of their annual dinner fills in their basic understanding of Annapolis:
The ZOA’s base is a mixture of secular and Orthodox right-wing Zionists, who can come together on at least one point: their belief that Arabs are murderous Jew-haters who will be motivated, not mollified, by Israeli and American appeasement. There were loud cheers when [Mort] Klein insisted that peace could only be achieved after the Arab side was dealt a decisive military defeat and when he said that Jerusalem was more important than peace — that no deal would be acceptable, even if it were to bring peace. [emphases added]
The fear of trustworthiness on Israel’s neighbors is a legitimate fear, let’s not discount that one bit. But it’s not reasonable as a political platform and certainly shows a pathetic understanding of Middle East dynamics, demographics and opinion.
Interestingly enough, AIPAC took indirect heat for not standing up for Israel’s sovereignty over disputed territories enough, which goes to show not how centrist AIPAC is, but how far extreme the ZOA thinks. U.S. Representative Weiner (D-NY) took a veiled swipe at them from the ZOA stump:
There is no organization in Washington, no organization at the grassroots that is more in keeping with making sure that Israel stays strong and our relationship stays solid than ZOA. Without fear of contradiction I’ll say this: more so than even that better known organization that does some very very important work.
Gag. It is no surprise that when Israel proceeds with actions the right detests (such as talking with Arabs) they cease in their assertion of supporting Israel “no matter what” and take aim at Olmert, like the Republican Jewish Caucus is doing presently.
AIPAC, unwilling to be left behind although weaker on it’s version of obstructionism, is sponsoring a resolution in Congress which parrots long-standing positions about the need for Fatah’s party platform to change, which is a moot point, being not an point of contention between the right and the left, but simply serves to flag-wave and saber-rattle amidst right-wing constituents. (AIPAC doesn’t want to be accused of laying off it’s own talking points by it’s own members.) Arguing that either Fatah or Hamas change their charter before being worthy of negotiations is like claiming Israel can’t negotiate until it defines it’s own borders and picks a constitution. Which is an interesting idea, I’m surprised the ZOA, the RJC and AIPAC haven’t tried it already…
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Fresh from the inbox:
Dear Friends,
I hope you will join me in congratulating Hillel Senior Communications Associate Suzanne Kurtz on her appointment as spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition starting July 16. You may be familiar with the many articles Suzanne has written and syndicated as editor of our Hillel Campus Report online newsletter. Our loss is the RJC’s gain.
[...]
Thank you,
Jeff Rubin
Associate Vice President for Communications
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Uh, sorry, but getting a job at the Republican Jewish Coalition is nothing to brag about. These guys buy recess-appointment ambassadorships by financing propaganda for the Bush administration.
Considering that Hillel’s mission as a purportedly apolitical and non-denominational organization is to connect Jews to Judaism and each other across a spectrum of beliefs and identities, you probably want to keep the whole “we’re egregiously Republican” thing under the rug…
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Muriel Kane writes,
There’s been a fair amount of attention paid to the Republican Jewish Coalition lately as a result of their sponsorship of an ad swiftboating Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria. Most of the analysis I’ve seen has focused on links between the RJC and the Bush administration — most notably Sam Fox, recently recess-appointed by Bush as ambassador to Belgium, who headed the RJC until just a few months ago. The current RJC leadership also includes such GOP stalwarts as Ari Fleisher, Ken Mehlman, and the ever-slimy Mel Sembler.
However, when I checked through my notes and files, I found that the largest number of mentions of the RJC involved a less well-known member of the board of directors named Fred Zeidman.
In related news, The Forward reports,
Sam Fox, President Bush’s controversial recess appointment as ambassador to Belgium, is vowing to continue donating to political candidates during his time in Brussels while forgoing contributions to 527s, the campaign vehicle that sparked the recent political firestorm that derailed his Senate confirmation.
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