Poor Mort Klein must be foaming at the mouth. Used to being routinely invited to high level White House briefings under previous presidents, Pres. Obama left him out in the cold yesterday when he met with leaders of 14 Jewish groups. The last time Obama staffers met with a similar group they did include Klein, who fulminated about his extremist pro-Israel agenda. Apparently, he wore out his welcome and may not see the inside of the White House for some time.
Malcolm Hoenlein WAS invited to the meeting and attempted to fill Klein’s shoes with his negativity, none of which Pres. Obama was having. Malcolm ought to watch out–he may be the leader left off the list for the next meeting.
A correspondent for Rupert Murdoch’s otherwise strongly pro-Israel Australian notes:
Mr Obama yesterday held his first meeting with US Jewish leaders – a meeting that marked a possible changing of the guard of Jewish leadership in the US.
Groups which under George W. Bush enjoyed good access to the White House – including the Lubavitch movement and the Zionist Organisation of America – were not included on the keenly contested list, while more liberal groups such as Americans for Peace Now and the newly formed J Street Lobby met Mr Obama.
This could be one of the reasons why the ZOA’s Lori Lowenthal Marcus is creating a new right-wing group that plans to shadow (read, “smear”) J Street. Even she sees the handwriting on the political wall. The jealousy is palpable.
For those of you keeping score at home: Lubavitch and ZOA–out. Peace Now, J Street, Israel Policy Forum–in.
H/t to Sol Salbe.
[comment deleted for comment rule violation]
Richard dahlink,
I haven’t been with ZOA in almost two years, so you must find another way to describe me. Right wing? Hardline? Pro-Israel? Zionista?
And I haven’t yet checked out your c.v., but rest assured I am more knowledgeable about many aspects of Judaism, and for sure the true meaning of Tikun Olam, than are you. Hebrew literature? I’ll cede that one to you.
Also, to add to your scorekeeping, CAMERA and JINSA were not invited to the Obama party either.
You haven’t bothered to read my About page yet you have the chutzpah to claim you know more about Judaism and tikun olam than I? That’s rich. Take a few minutes and make yrself look a little less foolish than you already do and read. Research is a good thing to do before you put yr foot in yr mouth.
I’m delighted to hear JINSA wasn’t invited as well. As for CAMERA, I doubt they’ve ever come within 5 miles of getting invited to the White House.
RE: “Lubavitch and ZOA–out. Peace Now, J Street, Israel Policy Forum–in.”
MY COMMENT: Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
From: Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 15, 2009
“A central purpose of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review that I announced last week is to explore how to effectively design, fund, and implement development and foreign assistance as part of a broader foreign policy. Let’s face it. We have devoted a smaller percentage of our government budget to development than almost any other advanced country. And too little of what we have spent has contributed to genuine and lasting progress. Too much of the money has never reached its intended target, but stayed here in America to pay salaries or fund overhead in contracts. I am committed to more partnerships with NGOs, but I want more of our tax dollars to be used effectively and to deliver tangible results.”
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/126071.htm