Susan Rice with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
(NJDC) Last night, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was roundly criticized for an advertisement in the New York Times attacking U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, which the National Jewish Democratic Council denounced as being “disgusting and astonishingly beyond the pale.”
Israeli leaders and Jewish organizations from across the spectrum, both politically and denominationally, joined in this criticism. However, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), the self-described “unique bridge between the Jewish community and Republican decision-makers,” has yet to speak out against this offensive and over-the-top attack.
Attacks such as Rabbi Boteach’s do nothing but endanger Israel’s security. It is beyond disappointing to see that the RJC has failed to condemn what virtually the entire Jewish community has spoken out against.
We hope that the Republican Jewish Coalition will see it fit to add their names to the list of groups standing against this disgusting attack:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office stated that “We condemn these ads and oppose personal attacks of every kind”;
- The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose spokesperson said that “Ad hominem attacks should have no place in our discourse”;
- The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, calling the advertisement “unacceptable”;
- The Anti-Defamation League, stating that the attack is “perverse” and “incendiary”;
- The American Jewish Committee, who found the ad to be “revolting”;
- The Jewish Federations of North America, calling the ad “outrageous”;
- The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, who found this to be a “sad moment for the Jewish community”;
- The Israel Project, whose leadership found it to be “entirely inappropriate”;
- J Street, who asserted that the advertisement “crosses a line of decency that should not be breached”;
- The Union of Reform Judaism and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, who jointly described the ad as “grotesque,” “abhorrent” and a “sinister slur”;
- The Rabbinical Assembly, whose leaders called it “completely inconsistent with [Rice’s] record of friendship and loyalty”; and
- The Orthodox Union, who called this an “inappropriate ad hominem attack.”
