New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the possible GOP presidential contender who raised the hackles of many a pro-Israel Republican with an off-the-cuff remark in March about the “occupied territories” of the West Bank, got another chance to appeal to high-profile Jewish donors this Sunday.
Many see the earlier flap at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership retreat in Las Vegas as water under the bridge, especially after Christie reportedly apologized to political donor, philanthropist, and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who hosted the event, in a closed-door meeting. But others view what they consider a record of supporting New Jersey residents with ties to terrorist organizations as disqualifying the colorful governor from seeking the party’s support.
That’s what makes Christie’s appearance at the annual Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala in New York City so important, observers say, even as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach—whose organization, This World: The Values Network, is hosting the May 18 gathering—calls the event decidedly non-political. Boteach, the media-savvy New Jersey rabbi and author who himself mounted an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2012, has amassed a panoply of heavy-hitting politicians and financiers, including Republican Governor Rick Perry of Texas, U.S. Sen. Corey Booker (D-N.J.), Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Judy and Michael Steinhardt, anti-genocide campaigner John Prendergast, and actor-activist Sean Penn.
Among the most vocal individuals expressing distrust of Christie is Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. He was in the audience at the Venetian Resort and Hotel when the governor described a “helicopter ride from the occupied territories” to “understand the military risk that Israel faces every day.”
“It’s generally understood that these are at a minimum disputed territories, not occupied, and that Israel has a far greater claim to it politically, legally, historically and religious than the Arabs,” said Klein, who was initially considering boycotting Boteach’s gathering this weekend over Christie’s appearance, before ultimately deciding to attend.
Christie reportedly told Adelson later that weekend that he “misspoke” in his Vegas appearance.
Although he accused Christie of being “rude, insensitive and [showing] a complete disinterest in the issue” when he followed the governor into a hallway behind the stage at the Venetian, Klein told JNS.org that he will attend the New York gala out of deference to Boteach and the Adelsons, whom he described as “close friends.” But he said he won’t be applauding for Christie.
“Everyone I spoke to—and I spoke to maybe a dozen people in the next day or so after this— were all horrified that he would use such a term [and] that his only response was, ‘I misspoke,’” Klein said of the “occupied territories” remark.
The rift, which has lined up a small cadre of pro-Israel conservative commentators and Republican donors against a Christie presidential candidacy, has created headaches for Boteach.
“I cannot tell you how much troubleshooting I’ve been doing trying to keep people under the same tent when each is objecting to the presence of the other,” said the rabbi, who ran as a Republican in New Jersey’s ninth congressional district on a family values platform. “It is remarkable.”
Boteach called the controversy just one example of how much more Americans now care about what people may think, rather than their actions. He argued that Christie should be judged on his body of work, as opposed to just one comment, adding that he believes the governor to be sufficiently pro-Israel and friendly to the Jewish community.
“My issue with our current political climate, and this is a value statement as opposed to a political statement, is that it rejects values,” explained Boteach. “It’s not about what people do, it’s about what people say or believe and a single statement can create a news cycle for an entire week.”
“Harry Truman did wonders for the Jewish people—he voted for Israel as a state against phenomenal pressure from his own Secretary of State George Marshall. But we discovered a decade ago in analyzing his private diaries that he thought Jews were more cruel than any nation on earth,” continued the rabbi. “Richard Nixon had profanity laced diatribes against Jews in his White House tapes, but he did infinitely more than his Jewish secretary of state in the 1973 Yom Kippur war to save Israel, to resupply Israel, when Israel really was on the brink of annihilation.”
Jacob Toporek, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, took a nuanced approach. While the Jewish community looked into Christie’s relationship with the state’s sizable Islamic community, it concluded that the governor is generally supportive of Jewish community concerns, he said. “It would have been better if he’d not used the [‘occupied territories’] phrase, but I certainly don’t doubt his sincerity and support for the State of Israel,” Toporek told JNS.org.
Rooney characterized that misstep as more indicative of Christie’s foreign policy inexperience, a common problem that has plagued many a politician seeking national office.
“I don’t think they indicate an anti-Israel bias and I don’t think they tell us that he would not come to Israel’s defense,” explained Rooney, adding that Christie is “certainly better than what we have right now in Washington, DC.”
The two-term Christie has not officially announced his candidacy for the 2016 GOP nomination, but is one of a handful of nationally recognized Republican politicians already crisscrossing the country speaking with donors and activists at conventions and battleground states. He had been considered the most electable potential GOP candidate in 2013 until revelations last September that his staff was responsible for lane closures on the George Washington Bridge as retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not supporting Christie’s reelection.
This article is exclusive to JNS.org.
By Dmitriy Shapiro/JNS.org/Washington Jewish Week
