30 Jan
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Shmuel Rosner on Upcoming Israel Elections

Israel’s election season heated up this week as political parties rushed to submit their final list of candidates. Much is at stake: This time, unlike the elections of 2013, we don’t know who’s going to win. We ask Moment columnist Shmuel Rosner to outline a few possible scenarios and predict whether an ouster of Prime Minister Netanyahu is a real possibility. Q. How are these elections different about the ones in 2013? A. First of all, it’s an open election. We don’t know who’s going to win. Two years ago it was almost impossible for anyone to usurp Netanyahu and become prime minister. So the whole point of the election last cycle was to determine the kind of coalition Netanyahu was going to establish. This time it is not about the nature of the next Netanyahu coalition. It is about the question...

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24 Nov
Latest

Orthodox Jews Were Not Affected By "Obama Bad For Israel" Rhetoric

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler According to data based on precincts "with High-Concentration Of Orthodox Jewish Voters," Orthodox Jews were not only unafraid of Barack Obama, some communities voted for him in larger numbers than they did for John Kerry in 2004. Shmuel Rosner blogs (and has a nice chart) about the data , compiled by The Public Policy office of the Orthodox Union, at JPost. He gives four explanations for the data: Like many Americans, Orthodox Jews thought it was time for the GOP to get its butt kicked. The economy has a profound impact on Orthodox families with a lot of children and a lot of expenses. Bush was rewarded in 2004 for his friendship toward Israel. McCain wasn't. Sarah Palin was a downer to Jews, some Orthodox included. Either way, we know that the rumors and the rhetoric swirling around Obama...

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Chuck Hagel
15 Jul
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The Barack Obama Chuck Hagel Controversy

More controversy regarding Barack Obama and his policies on Jewish-related issues has bubbled up and, perhaps, simmered down in the past few days. According to the JTA, the Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement yesterday (which has since been removed from their website) condemning what they saw as Sen. Chuck Hagel's accompanying Obama on his upcoming trip to the Middle East. The RJC demanded Obama drop Hagel from the trip. Hagel is a controversial figure in the Jewish community for a number of reasons. Mostly, though, he is seen as less than totally supportive of Israel. Last year, the National Democratic Jewish Council created a list of some of his most unpopular actions regarding the Middle East; in January of this year, Haaretz saw Mayor Michael Bloomberg's associations with Hagel as a detriment to his potential...

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