The Forward has done some excellent reporting on the degree to which the new Pew poll demonstrates that the American Jewish organizational leadership is way more supportive of Israel than the Jewish rank and file. And the leaders are defiant about that! Here is Josh Nathan-Kazis’s original report:
American Jews are far more critical of Israel than the Jewish establishment, according to the new Pew survey, but Jewish leaders say the findings won’t change their positions…
“You know who the Jewish establishment represents? Those who care,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League…
According to Steve Bayme, , director of the Contemporary Jewish Life Department at the American Jewish Committee, [the numbers suggest that most Jews] know less about the peace process.
“Those who are most involved in Jewish life are also most knowledgeable, and therefore I tend to think their opinion more closely parallels the opinion of the organized Jewish community,” said Bayme. “Those not involved… they are the ones who are going to be viewing these issues from a lack of adequate knowledge base.”…
In response to nearly all of Pew’s questions about Israel, young Jews were more likely to be critical of Israel and less likely to feel attached to Israel. A quarter of Jews aged 18 to 29 believe that the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, according to Pew.
Nathan-Kazis then followed up with a sharply-critical report showing that Jewish leaders are not democratically-selected.
Who chooses who leads? Mostly wealthy donors and local activists. Below, I identified the electors who picked six of the men heading the core Jewish establishment advocacy groups….
Malcolm Hoenlein
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Since 1986Who hired him: The Conference of Presidents didn’t get back to me when I asked how they pick their top professional leader. Maybe they’ve forgotten — there’s been no change in the executive suite there for almost 30 years. I assume that Hoenlein was chosen by the Conference’s member organizations.
Who’s that?: There are 50 organizations that belong to the Conference, some of them more “major” than others. The American Jewish Committee and AIPAC belong to the Conference, massive groups that spend tens of millions a year. So does the America-Israel Friendship League, which got just $750,000 in contributions in 2011.
Abe Foxman
Anti-Defamation League
Since 1987Who hired him: The ADL didn’t answer my question on this, either. I assume that the national director is chosen by the group’s national commission, though, again, that hasn’t happened in nearly 30 years.
Who’s that?: The national commission’s current chair is Barry Curtiss-Lusher, CEO of Nexus Resources, an oil and gas exploration firm. Other members, as of the group’s last tax filing, include former Conference of Presidents chair Kenneth Bialkin and current Conference of Presidents chair Robert Sugarman.
Go to the link to see the rapsheet on David Harris of the American Jewish Committee (in office 23 years, since corporate bosses helped choose him) and Howard Kohr of AIPAC. American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The lack of democracy is highly relevant to Mid East politics. Nathan-Kazis reports:
When Secretary of State John Kerry asked American Jews to help push the Israelis to agree to enter negotiations with the Palestinians last June, American Jewish leaders balked.
Only a handful of left-wing groups advocated on Kerry’s behalf. The rest demurred, telling the Forward that it wasn’t the Israelis who needed to be pushed to the table, and that the onus lies entirely on the Palestinians.
American Jews don’t seem to share that view. According to the Pew survey, only 38% of all U.S. Jews believe that the Israeli government is making a “sincere effort” to come to a peace settlement. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, that number is even lower, at just 26%.
Hoph will probably ask “is it any different in the Democratic party ? ” and I’ll probably agree with him.
Shorter Abe Foxman: Jews who didn’t vote for me hate themselves.
This is trite and tired. Nobody elected Foxman except a small coterie of wealthy donors and insiders who selected their own. Is he just going to pretend Jewish America doesn’t exist? Just 17% of Jews according to Pew think that settlement activity helps Israel’s security. To be fair, another 35% or so said it didn’t matter. But you still have almost 40% who said it is not good.
And how many of the major organizations are critical? 100% are in favour in practice, a minority do a few tacit criticisms mostly as lip service, like J Street.
But this is how it is in most ethnic organizations. The hardliners and the ethnic chauvinists climb the ladder. Most of the people they claim to represent don’t know who they are.
Another example of how American Jews are “represented” by the establishment: during the Presidential election cycles the msm euphemistically transforms Jewish Leaders and their campaign cash into the critical “Jewish vote”.
I was listening to a lecture series on the Middle Ages, and the prof mentioned the three classes or orders of society: Those who fight (the nobility–or those who defend), those who pray (priests, nuns), and those who work (everyone else). It occurred to me that in some ways American Jewish communities even today exhibit some parallels to this three order system. The wealthy seem to have a disproportionate role in American Jewish communities–at least compared to Christian communities. The power of the wealthy seem to be “harnessed” toward (what they perceive as) pro-Jewish goals (and they’re there to defend or fight for those goals), whereas the power of wealthy gentiles seems to be unchecked and essentially inimical to the goals of, say, gentile Americans (of any race). It stands to reason that this would happen: That some of the strongest “forces”–blood/heritage as well as the power of wealthy men (oh, and I suppose I should mention a third force, namely, the religious mandate stemming from being the Chosen People)–would be aligned in the group which has withstood being torn apart by time and entropy longer than any other.
When I ask Obama to help end the occupation, I write: “I am Jewish and I vote”. But I cannot compete with the fellows who give him $1M or more.
The Jewish establishment (or, maybe it s/b called, “The Establishment-Fragment which claims to speak for American Jews”) is no more representative of Jews than, say, the BIG-PHARMA or BIG-BANK lobbies.
It’s money, money, money, and they should be forbidden to claim to represent anyone but themselves.