Obama proudly announced the support of more than 600 Jewish rabbis last week. However a closer look at those 600 rabbis reveals that quite a few of them a vehemently opposed to the Jewish state.
The reason behind Obama’s launch of "Rabbis for Obama” is an initiative to get more Jewish support for the president in the next election.
What has recently come to light, however, is that the list of more than 600 rabbis, many of whom are Reform, Conservative and female and therefore not considered as rabbis by the Orthodox Jewish community also includes many blatantly anti-Israeli figures, which align with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
Lynn Gottlieb, for example, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and sits on the board of Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that has been listed as one of the "Top Ten Anti-Israel groups" by the Anti-Defamation League.
According to the ADL, JVP "Calls for an end of U.S. aid to Israel, accuses Israel of apartheid policies, and supports divestment campaigns against Israel.” Like other Jewish anti-Zionist groups, JVP uses its Jewish identity to protect the anti-Israel accusations of anti-Semitism and provide a greater degree of credibility to their anti-Israel stance. JVP activists regularly attend anti-Israel events with shirts and posters that proudly spread their Jewish identity.
During March and April 2010, JVP leaders
unsuccessfully pushed for the passage of a divestment resolution at the University of California, Berkeley, aimed at companies that do business with Israel.
Another name on the list, Chava Bahle, a member of "14 Friends of Palestine", an organization that advocated to condemn Israel for the flotilla incident in Gaza in 2010 and falsely accuses Israel of preventing food and medical supplies to Gaza.
Another name on the list, Aruthur Waskow, is associated with the Council of American Islamic Relations, an organization that is also on the ADL list of the most anti-Israel groups.
Another name on the list, Aruthur Waskow, is associated with the Council of American Islamic Relations, an organization that is also on the ADL list of the most anti-Israel groups.
