Does Obama support the Jews who supported him?
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National Jewish
Leader
Turns
Against Obama
By Leo Rennert
July 24th, 2009
AMERICANTHINKER.COM
A huge crack has surfaced in
Obama’s Jewish base in the
person of Alan Solow,
one of the president’s closest
Chicago friends and
long-time supporters.
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__________ALAN SOLOW
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Solow,
who was named chairman
of the Conference of President
of Major Jewish Organizations
last December,
just released a highly critical
statement on behalf of the
52-member group,
in which he thoroughly disagrees
with Obama’s demand that Israel
halt all construction of Jewish
housing in East Jerusalem,
including the Old City —
the holiest place in Judaism.
In a statement co-signed by
Conference Executive Vice
Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein,
Solow took special aim at
Obama’s insistence that Israel
not proceed with 20-apartment
development on a Jewish-owned
parcel in the eastern section
of Israel’s capital.
Solow said he found
“disturbing the objections
raised to the proposed construction
of residential units on property
that was legally purchased and
approved by the appropriate
authorities.
The area in question houses major
Israeli governmental agencies,
including the national
police headquarters.
In addition to the Jewish housing,
the project called for apartment
units for Arabs as well.”
Solow complained that,
while the Obama administration
wants to freeze legal Jewish
housing in the eastern part
of Jerusalem,
it has been quick to
“raise objections to the removal
of illegal structures built by
Arabs in eastern Jerusalem,
even though they were built
in violation of zoning and other
requirements often
on usurped land.”
“Hundreds of Arab families have
moved into Jewish neighborhoods
of Jerusalem and the same right
should be accorded to Jewish
residents to live wherever they
choose in Jerusalem.
No government of Israel has
or can pursue a discriminatory
policy that would prevent the
legitimate presence of Jews
in any area of the capital,”
Solow added.
To appreciate the significance
of Solow’s fallout with Obama
on Jerusalem,
one needs to keep in mind their
long-time close relationship
in Chicago.
Solow,
who once lived in
Obama’s neighborhood,
backed his political ascent
going back to Obama’s campaign
for the Illinois Senate,
a dozen years ago.
One also needs to keep in
mind that Solow was chosen
to head the Conference of
Presidents as a clear post-election
signal that the American Jewish
community,
which voted for Obama by
a lopsided 78 percent margin,
wanted the new president to
know that one of his closest
friends and supporters would
be speaking for U.S. Jewry as
Obama prepared to take office.
For his part,
Solow was clearly smitten
with Obama and firmly believed
that he could be counted on to
nurture positive ties with Israel
during his term in office.
“I said with a smile
that he will be the first
Jewish president,”
Solow boasted after
Obama won the Democratic
nomination.
“He has a deep understanding
of issues that confront Israel
and the Jewish community.”
Solow had similar feelings
and expectations for another
one of his close Chicago
acquaintances —
White House Chief of
Staff Rahm Emanuel
Speaking of Emanuel,
Solow remarked last year that
“his support of Israel fits with
the president-elect’s thinking.”
Now,
Solow’s statement makes it clear
that his rosy expectations of
Obama and Emanuel as reliable
friends of Israel
have been dashed.
Furthermore to appreciate Solow’s
public disagreement with the
president,
it’s significant that he issued
his statement not as
a private citizen,
but on the letterhead of ,
the Conference of Presidents.
The conference embraces
52 Jewish organizations
spanning the gamut from
Reform to Orthodox,
from American for Peace Now
to the Zionist Organization
of America.
So this time,
it’s not only a few reliable
Israel supporters like Morton
Klein of ZOA or Conference
Vice Chairman Hoenlein who
have been voicing deep concerns
about Obama’s policies
toward Israel.
Now,
it’s long-time friend Solow,
speaking for the entire Conference.
The same Solow,
who also initiated Obama’s recent
White House meeting with a group
of Jewish leaders.
For Solow to break so visibly
with Obama belies assertions
by far-left Jewish groups like
J Street that their full confidence
and support for Obama represent
the consensus of views of
American Jewry and that only
a few Jews on the margins are
being critical of the president.
Solow’s statement has ushered
in a new chapter in relations
between this White House and
the American Jewish community.
This honeymoon
could be over.
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