New York, NY – Jack Lew, President Obama’s chief of staff, met with Jewish leaders in New York and fielded questions about differences with Israel.
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Lew, who is an Orthodox Jew, met Feb. 17 with a group convened by the New York Jewish Community Relations Council on his way home for Shabbat.
According to participants in the meeting, he was asked about reports of tensions between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and particularly over Iran, and on the issue of Jonathan Pollard.
According to Ezra Friedlander CEO of the Friedlander Group, who participated the meeting, Lew also revealed that when President Obama offered him the position of White House Chief of Staff he told him” that he is aware of his observance of the Sabbath and that while he can’t promise him there won’t be a crisis he will fully respect his observance”.
Exclusive video from the event below
Is it my computer, my hearing is is the volume on this video nearly inaudible? While I would have liked to hear the discussion, I’m glad he provided this opportunity to exchange views. Obama is still going to get the large percentage of Jewish votes in November so we might as well use our leverage effectively and start focusing on the security of EY, the American economy and not on Pollard and other symbolic issues
The video is barely audible. Even with sound enhancement you can barely hear Jack Lew grovel about how he won’t deny all the negative things that he said in the past. Sort of, I said it, now let’s move on.
I know of other Liberal left wing loonies who also observe Shabbos, Kashrus and call themselves Orthodox. They seem to have their priorities tzimisht.
Why do we think that the president of the USA or members of the house and senate must share our view on israel and other issues that effects jews. Aren’t they entitled to their own opinion even if it differs from ours ? After all, we are just a scant percentage of this country and things don’t have to be always the way we want.
We are just inviting more antisemetic sentiments on us.
(Reply to #7 ): I feel sorry for you. How lacking in compassion, how cold and clinical you seem. And how utterly wrong. Funny how you neglect to mention that the punishment far, far exceeds the crime, and surely exceeds what others in Pollard’s circumstances have received. And you omit the fact that many familiar with the case, who held top positions in government at the time, have stepped forward to identify C. Weinberger as a vengeful, vicious, mean-spirited individual, who was certainly no fan of Israel or the Jews. Surely you’ve seen the letters to Obama written by these individuals. Why would you choose to ignore these facts?