On Tuesday, the Obama campaign announced “Rabbis for Obama.” According to the campaign, “these rabbis mirror the diversity of American Jewry. Their ringing endorsement of President Obama speaks volumes about the President’s deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel and his dedication to a policy agenda that represents the values of the overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition noticed today that at least one of these rabbis is actually the exact opposite. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb from California is a leader of the Jewish Voice for Peace, an infamously anti-Israel group that supports the boycott, divestment, and sanction movement against Israel. The group has even come out against the existence of Israel. She has also gone to Tehran and met with Ahmadinejad, thus lending him legitimacy. The question is whether the Obama campaign failed to vet its list of rabbis, or did they know about Gottlieb’s extremist stances and include her anyway? Either way, the Obama campaign should remove Lynn Gottlieb from its list if it wants to maintain any credibility with the Jewish community.