Jewish Politicians Rip into RJC

Watch Joe Biden deliver last night’s opening speech at the National Jewish Democratic Council’s Washington Conference.

Jewish politicians known for their support of Israel lashed out against the Republican Jewish Committee this morning, accusing it of dividing America’s Jewish community for the sake of politics.

During a panel discussion titled “Israel: Bipartisan Consensus or Partisan Wedge Issue” at a conference hosted by the National Jewish Democratic Council in Washington DC, House Representatives Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), and former Representative Mel Levine (D-CA) criticized the RJC’s anti-Obama campaign as “BS,” emphasizing that historically Democrats have been the most staunchly and consistently pro-Israel party.

“You cannot denigrate and destroy our community in the interest of getting someone elected and that’s exactly what they [the RJC] are doing

Should Jews Fear Palin?

When Sen. John McCain nominated Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential candidate, there were a number of reactions in response to what is still considered a risky political move. The initial debates circled around whether her relatively brief career as a maverick and reformer could make up for her lack of foreign policy experience.

As she prepares to speak at the Republican Convention, the debates are still swirling.

We at Moment are interested in her relationship with Jews. How should Jews across the country feel about Palin’s nomination and the possibility that, if something were to happen to McCain, she would become president?

More on Jews + Blacks

NJDC’s blog alerted us to a recent Daily Show video that you can see here. It’s about Jewish/Black relations, only from the distinctively funny and revealing angle that Jon Stewart and co. have made so effective.

This is becoming a hot topic in election news. Just last week we posted on the relationship between blacks and Jews and how that relationship could impact the election, if at all. We concluded:

Some Jews, like some white (and other) people in this country as a whole, won’t vote for Senator Obama in part or in whole because he is black. An estimate of that number is very difficult to gauge since people habitually lie when it comes to talking about their racial attitudes. Whether there will be enough Jewish Democrat voters who stay home on Election Day and/or vote for Senator John McCain to swing the vote in a deciding state like Florida is the question.

Obama Controversy Regarding Sen. Hagel

More controversy regarding Barack Obama and his policies on Jewish-related issues has bubbled up and, perhaps, simmered down in the past few days.

According to the JTA, the Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement yesterday (which has since been removed from their website) condemning what they saw as Sen. Chuck Hagel’s accompanying Obama on his upcoming trip to the Middle East. The RJC demanded Obama drop Hagel from the trip.

Obama’s Inner Circle

Yesterday’s Washington Post featured a front-page article on Barack Obama’s inner circles of advisors and friends.

Although the article focused on the Chicago-based commonality in Obama’s circles, we couldn’t help but notice another fascinating attribute they all had in common: The innermost circle that the Post assembled (which can easily be viewed in the accompanying graphic) is comprised of seven people, all of whom are minorities.

Four of the seven—John W. Rogers Jr., Valerie B. Jarrett, Eric Whitaker and Martin Nesbitt—are African American. The other three—David Axelrod, James Crown and Penny S. Pritzker—are Jewish.

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