Lew Touts Obama Record to Jewish Leaders
Jack Lew, President Obama’s chief of staff, met with Jewish leaders in New York and fielded questions about differences with Israel.
Lew, who is Jewish, 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.
Lew said differences existed, but were blown out of proportion by the media.
He claimed sanctions were effectively squeezing Iran, and said Israel was sovereign in making decisions about its defense.
Participants in the meeting, chaired by Janice Weinman Shorenstein, the JCRC’s immediate past president, also pressed Lew on plans to lower the tax deductibility rate on charitable giving for people earning over $250,000 a year from 35 percent to 28 percent.
Also discussed were a range of social issues, including medical care. Lew also told the group that the White House kitchen as of two weeks ago offers kosher options.
An administration official said further such meetings were planned.
Obama has intensified outreach to Jews in recent months, ahead of the November election.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30