Obama-Jewish meet was not confined to "leftist" groups

Certain people have charged that President Obama met only with left-wing Jewish groups or excluded all right wing groups. Below is the list of attendees. It is true that, for example, ZOA is notable by its absence, but it seems that Ameinu, Brit Tzedek Veshalom and some others on the left were not invited either. It could have been worse. Obama could have invited Jewish Voice for Peace for example. JCPA, Orthodox Union, AIPAC, ADL and  and Hadassah are not exactly PLO supporters.  The President wanted to consolidate support among the mainstream leaders of American Jewish and Zionist organizations. A big problem of course is that there is no really active Zionist organization that speaks for mainstream ZIonism in the United States. The American ZIonist Movement (AZM) exists, but it is quieter than a mouse regarding political issues.

 

The following is a list of participants at the meeting (Source):  

Alan Solow, Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations
Lee Rosenberg, President-elect, AIPAC
David Victor, President, AIPAC
Malcolm Honlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Jason Isaacson, Director of Government and International Affairs, American Jewish Committee
Nancy Ratzan, President, National Council of Jewish Women
Kathy Manning, Chair, Executive Committee, United Jewish Communities
Andrea Weinstein, Chair, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Marla Gilson, Washington Director, Hadassah
Stephen Savitsky, President, Orthodox Union
Rabbi Steven Wernick, Executive Vice President and CEO, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President, Union for Reform Judaism
Ira Forman, Chief Executive Officer, National Jewish Democratic Council
Debra DeLee, President and CEO, Americans for Peace Now
Jeremy Ben Ami, Executive Director, J Street

Media reports (here here) indicate that Obama got a reasonable amount of negative feedback at this meeting, but he isn't having any. He just pushed back. The pressure on Israel will continue. The purpose of the meeting was not to get feedback, but to try to organize Jewish support for this policies. Therefore, it would not have made a diffrence if other organizations, those that are opposed to a two state solution, had been invited.

 

Ami Isseroff