All of the major Jewish groups, such as the ADL, the SWC, the SPLC, and the Jewish Federations, pursue the opposite values from mine, the opposite values from the Torah I learned, so when I hear that Donald Trump is not creating communication channels with them I am glad. These groups want things such as multiculturalism, immigration amnesty, importation of more Muslims, more Syrian refugees, more Africans, more gay marriage, tranny rights, black rights, civil rights, etc.
Few of the Orthodox Jews I know are thrilled with the mainstream Jewish groups aka organized Jewry pushing for immigration amnesty and civil rights.
Friend: “Amazing that despite all the Jews already recruited by Trump, it’s not enough; and no mention of the hostility of the ADL toward him. Why should be bow down to the ADL under those circumstances?”
Forward: Donald Trump’s popularity is rooted in his outsider status, and that’s left Jewish and pro-Israel groups a bit stumped.
After all, it’s standard operating procedure for any advocacy organization come election season: Forge relationships with candidates for office from both parties in order to guarantee access and influence regardless of who wins.
Jewish and pro-Israel groups have a long tradition of networking from the grassroots to the highest level, but they have few channels to The Donald. The Anti-Defamation League, concerned about Trump’s white supremacist following, has not been able to reach him.
“You always want to be one phone call away from the candidate, so when the day comes and you need something, you’ll have someone to answer your call,” said Dan Arbell, a former deputy chief of mission at Israel’s embassy in Washington who was involved in similar efforts in the past. “With a candidate like Trump, it’s more difficult, because he has less of an organized campaign,” he added, noting that while Hillary Clinton’s campaign has had a Middle East team in place for months, Trump lacks such an infrastructure.
“It’s harder to identify, with him, who are the people surrounding the candidate or who will potentially be part of a future administration,” Arbell added.
True, Trump boasts a “Tree of Life” plaque from Jewish National Fund, and likes to mention that he was the grand marshal of the Fifth Avenue Celebrate Israel Parade in 2004.
And he has a Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, real estate developer and owner of the New York Observer newspaper. Kushner has served as Trump’s unofficial liaison to the Jewish community at key moments.
Kushner sat down with Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, before Trump spoke in March at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States . What Dermer told Kushner presumably helped Trump shape his narrative on Israel as presented in the speech.
The celebrity rabbi Shmuley Boteach also decided to embrace Trump after speaking to Kushner, whom, Boteach said, is a friend and “rock solid” on Israel.
At AIPAC, the audience received Trump’s address warmly, but the leadership publicly rejected it, taking both Trump and his listeners to task for their disrespectful attitude toward President Obama.
In the months since, AIPAC has yet to forge deep ties to the candidate, although at least two the aides running his convention operation have worked there. Trump’s deputy campaign manager, Michael Glassner, who was recently put in charge of planning for the Republican nominating convention, worked as a regional director for AIPAC in the past. Brian Jack, who until recently was a political analyst at AIPAC, now manages Trump’s delegate efforts.
A Jewish official with close ties to AIPAC said the lobby is in touch with Trump but does not have an extensive network of ties with his campaign.
“It’s a very different situation compared to Hillary,” said the official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of his organization. Clinton’s Middle East advisers and campaign managers, he explained, have been “on everyone’s contact list for years.”
“We encourage all candidates for federal office to share their positions on strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship,” AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann said in a statement provided to the Forward.
The American Jewish Committee hasn’t met with him yet, either.
“AJC always seeks to meet with the Democratic and Republican candidates for U.S. president to discuss our priority issues and concerns,” CEO David Harris said in a statement. “In that spirit, and having already met with some of his aides, we would welcome the chance to sit down with Donald Trump.”
And while Trump did disavow the comments of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke when he blamed Jews for obstructing Trump’s efforts to “make America great again,” the candidate did not respond to previous requests by the ADL to distance himself from such white supremacist supporters.
“I think the bottom line, is we haven’t spoken with him,” said ADL’s national director and CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt.
COMMENTS:
* Well Republicans, like it or not, Trump is your man. He doesn’t need outreach contracts with Jewish groups, because–after all–his daughter and son in-law are Jewish. So what more does he need? Certainly, his support for Israel will be better than has ever been seen by a U.S. President. In fact, it will be yuuuuge!
And because of his Jewish relatives, aren’t we assured that he won’t treat us like he plans for Latinos, Asians, blacks, women, gays and the disabled?
