Dan Ephron in the Daily Beast mocks Palin wearing a Star of David and making the “Republican hajj” for presidential candidates. Below is his last paragraph of a long story answering the question in my headline. The fact that he buries this in the last paragraph, under the usual Blame the Christian evangelical Zionists stuff, is an evasion. Young journalists were always told, Follow the money. But at least it’s in there.
Finally, of course, there’s the matter of fundraising. Levine points out that while most Jews are liberal, many wealthy Jews support Republicans. With some of them, like the casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson or the bingo billionaire Irving Moskowitz, there’s no better way to make an impression than by having your photo taken with Netanyahu or touring the City of David—a settlement project bankrolled by right-wing Jews. “You don’t need the 70 percent of Americans who vote Democrat to support you,” Levin says. “You need a couple dozen of the right people to passionately believe you are their man.”
Or more than a couple of dozen. Barney Frank in the most liberal district in the country is intimidated by these “couple dozen.” I want Jewish reporters to own up to our presence in the American Establishment and stop putting the blame on the Christian Zionists. Yes I know, they’re awful. But the mote in someone else’s eye is always bigger than the beam in your own. Rabbi Hillel said that, I think.
