Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 was full of Jewish side events. There was a fancy ball at a downtown hotel co-sponsored by major Jewish groups and attended by Jewish politicos, activists and even Dr. Ruth Westhehimer, plus a string of private events hosted by Jewish Democratic donors and supporters. WATCH President Obama’s inauguration LIVE:…
On a muggy evening last August, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg walked into a kosher restaurant in Boca Raton, Fla., only to spot White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew having dinner at a corner table. Goldberg approached Lew, who was in town for a series of events for President Obama’s re-election campaign, and asked him to…
From his temporary office on the Pentagon’s third floor, Chuck Hagel is already working at full speed. He’s devoting his time not just to learning a new job, but also to clarifying his positions on Iran — the issue his former Senate colleagues have vowed to question him on most intensively when his nomination for…
One of Chuck Hagel’s greatest potential obstacles on his path to approval as defense secretary has now been removed. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who made it known he had deep concerns over Hagel’s views on Israel and the Middle East, is now fully on board with the nomination. Schumer’s change of heart came…
It could come down to a tale of two Chucks. Chuck Hagel’s chances of getting confirmed as Pentagon chief could hinge on whether Sen. Chuck Schumer is satisfied with Hagel’s stance on Iran. Schumer, perhaps the most influential Jewish senator, is not pleased with Obama’s choice of Hagel for Secretary of Defense and has yet…
As a child growing up in the Long Island suburb of Lawrence, N.Y., Richard Feldman, the National Rifle Association’s first Jewish lobbyist, did not encounter many gun owners. He first held a firearm at the age of 12, at a Jewish summer camp shooting range. It was only a decade later, when serving on the…
With Chuck Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense heading for tough confirmation hearings, the most explosive charge against the former Nebraska is that he displayed anti-Semitism in his relationship with Jews in his home state. Former deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams has sought to make Hagel’s supposed “problem with the Jews” a centerpiece of…
It’s a different ballgame now. After President Obama announced his selection of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, pro-Israel activists and mainstream Jewish groups toned down criticism of the controversial choice to lead the Pentagon, who analysts say is now a prohibitive favorite to win confirmation. Most Jewish groups have made clear they will not lobby…
100% of profits support our journalism
