Romney Campaign: No Tisha B’Av Clash
The Romney campaign never planned a fundraiser in Jerusalem for the fast of Tisha b’Av, a senior campaign official said.
The official reached out to JTA on Thursday to push back against reports that a fundraiser during Mitt Romney’s planned Israel visit was scheduled for the Jewish fast day mourning the destruction of the Temples, among other calamities.
This year Tisha b’Av falls on July 29.
Subsequent reports said the Romney campaign canceled the event once its officials realized July 29 was a fast day.
A donor who will be attending the fundraiser told JTA that the event had always been scheduled for past nightfall on July 29, which means that it will not coincide with the fast day.
The campaign official would not confirm whether there would be a fundraiser during the Israel visit of Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor, but said that the campaign has been careful in planning the visit to work around the traditions and sensitivities of the fast day.
“The campaign has been aware of the sensitivities of Tisha b’Av,” said the official.
Reports have said that the fundraiser will cost between $50,000 and $60,000 a plate.
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
