Posted By James Besser
Political Insider: AJDiscord and Barack Obama
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A letter to the Jewish Week from a regional official of the American Jewish Congress (read it here) has touched off a mini-uproar over the right of organization leaders in nonpartisan groups to speak out on hot political issues.
The letter came from Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who identified himself as president of the Metropolitan Council of the AJ Congress. In it, Wiesenfeld expressed concerns about Sen. Obama's "liberal spirit" and criticized his statement that he would negotiate with Iran.
"Moreover, Obama's comfort with anti-Israel advocates, including his pastor and a church whose board has taken a serious of anti-Israel actions, and with George Soros, is disturbing," he said, adding that Obama's views about foreign policy are "shockingly naïve."
Only one problem: the AJCongress is a nonprofit group that does not take positions on elections, and Wiesenfeld's letter sounded to group leaders like a position.
The groups' national leaders responded with a statement calling his letter "unauthorized" and stated that the group "strictly abides by the prohibitions of the tax code prohibiting tax exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates for elective office. We do not permit staff or lay leaders to use the agency's name in connection with political campaigns."
The AJ Congress leaders said they had spoken out against "scurrilous campaigns to discredit" presidential candidates and cited their participation in a letter from nine major Jewish groups blasting the Obama rumors.
End of story? Not hardly; on Friday Wiesenfeld, who served as former New York Governor George Pataki's Jewish liaison, struck back with an email to a number of Jewish activists, AJCongress leaders - and the Jewish Week.
He said his title as an AJCongress leaders was "for identification purposes only and I am duly elected."
He said he made "no endorsement" in his letter to the editor - and added "I am not a 'court' Jew like AJC's predecessors who did not disturb Roosevelt with barbecued Jews in Europe."
He said his initial letter came in response to the AJCongress' participation in the group letter criticizing the anti-Obama slurs.
"I acted because AJC insinuated itself in a gratuitous defense of Obama," he said. "Who the hell asked them?"
If the group tries to make trouble for him, he said, "I will rally the troops in my defense."
Stay tuned.
