Bush Taps New Liaison

The White House was expected to name Jeffrey Berkowitz as the new liaison to the Jewish community. Berkowitz, associate director of the White House scheduling office, will take the post over from Noam Neusner, who according to sources has been relieved to concentrate on his position as spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. Berkowitz has been working for several weeks as Neusner’s deputy, meeting with leaders of the Jewish community in Washington, and spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference last week. Berkowitz previously worked for the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Republican National Committee, focusing on foreign policy and defense issues.

Nixon Off on Deep Throat

A former FBI agent who outed himself as the “Deep Throat” of the Watergate scandal is not Jewish. But President Nixon and his aides believed he was. Mark Felt, 91, revealed himself to Vanity Fair this week as the best-known anonymous source of the last century. Nixon, who had clashed with Felt over the FBI’s refusal to use questionable means to track down leaks, came to suspect Felt — J. Edgar Hoover’s right-hand man — of leaking information. In a 1972 conversation recorded on the Nixon tapes, top aide H.R. Haldeman tells the president that Felt is Jewish. Nixon expresses shock that a Jew could have reached such a senior post, and speculates that Felt might be leaking information because he is Jewish. In fact, Felt, born in Idaho, is of Irish ancestry and claims no religious affiliation.

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