Howard Berman

A friendly commenter makes the point that Jews voted against Bush (while the country was voting him in) and, by a good majority, opposed the Iraq war, per a lot of polls.

Fair enough. But I would say that we are talking now about attitudes, and a political movement is not built on attitudes. It requires leadership. As I wrote last year: 'There are 14 Jewish congressmen from New York and California (as I count them in the Almanac of American Politics). Twelve of them supported the Iraq war in 2002. Including good old Vietnam doves like Henry Waxman and Howard Berman of Los Angeles."

I don't dispute the attitudes, but I do question the political will of the body of American Jewry; if they feel misrepresented by the Israel lobby and their congressmen, they ought to rise up against them. George Soros says he's going to start an anti-occupation lobby. Good for him, I'm in his camp. Will he get numbers?

On truthdig, antiwar activist Tom Hayden offers his experience of being certified by pro-Israel forces, including the Berman machine in Los Angeles, back when he was running for state office:

Twenty-five years ago I stared into the eyes of Michael Berman, chief operative for his congressman-brother, Howard Berman... "I represent the Israeli defense forces," Michael said. I thought he was joking. He wasn't... The certifiers were the elites, beginning with rabbis and heads of the multiple mainstream Jewish organizations, especially each city's Jewish Federation...When necessary, Israeli ambassadors, counsels general and other officials would intervene with statements declaring someone a "friend of Israel."

In my case, a key to the "friendship issue" was the Los Angeles-based counsel general Benjamin Navon... The de facto Israeli endorsement would be communicated indirectly, in compliance with laws that prohibit foreign interference in an American election. We would be seen and photographed together in public. Benny would make positive public statements that could be quoted in campaign mailings. As a result, I was being declared "kosher" by the ultimate source, the region's representative of the state of Israel.

Bear in mind: Hayden was just an assemblyman! Imagine the forces that come to bear on aspiring congressmen, who actually help effect foreign policy. Last year I got behind a friend who was thinking of challenging Republican Sue Kelly in the 19th in New York. In one meeting we had, a Dem operative told him, "It's all about money, it's only about money, and what's going to happen when you're at a group of people in a nice apartment and the first question is, 'Where do you stand on the settlements in Israel?'"