White House Jewish Liaison

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The

Carter Administration
.

At times, the post has operated within the

White House Office of Public Liaison (previously renamed as the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Obama Administration[1][2]), and its formal title has depended on the rank of the person holding it. Thus, liaisons have held the position of Administrative Assistant for Jewish Affairs, Special Adviser for Jewish Affairs, Deputy Chief of Staff for Jewish Affairs, or Director of Jewish Outreach. During the most recent filling of the post, in the Obama Administration, the position's title was Associate Director of Public Engagement.[3][4]
At other times, the post has been held by persons outside of the Public Liaison Office.

The position is a difficult one to hold.

school vouchers for parochial schools.[5][7]

In recent years, the position has regularly been handled by younger staffers holding their first jobs in the

executive branch, with little power, and frequently many years younger than the American Jewish community organizational leaders to whom they represent the Administration viewpoint.[5] During the Trump Administration, the position was left unfilled, with no intent to formally fill it.[2]

Liaisons

Carter administration

In 1978, Carter administration Jewish liaison Mark Siegel resigned the position after he became distressed with the administration's position towards Israel and Middle East policy and felt unable to influence it.[8]

Reagan administration

Marshall Breger was President

Clinton administrations; the position was shuffled relatively more often during the George W. Bush administration.[9]

Clinton administration

Amy Zisook of Chicago served as Jewish liaison early in the Clinton Administration, followed by fellow Chicagoan Jay Footlik.[10][11] Footlik later was a candidate for Congress in Illinois's 10th congressional district,[12] losing to Dan Seals in the primary in 2008.[13] Other Jewish liaisons were Jeanne Ellinport[11][14][15] and Deborah Mohile, who served as Jewish liaison in the second term of the Clinton Administration.[11][16]

George W. Bush administration

During the Bush Administration, seven people held the position of White House Liaison to the Jewish community.[17][18]

The first liaisons during the Bush Administration, including Adam Goldman,

HHS Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy, and others, were said to have angered more liberal leaders of American Jewish organizations by allegedly bypassing their counsel in favor of more conservative Jews, functioning as a gatekeeper.[19]

Additional Jewish liaisons in the Bush White House included researcher and scheduler Jeff Berkowitz;

The last liaison of the Bush Administration was Scott Arogeti.[18]

Obama administration

During the

First Lady,[24] and Danielle Borrin, who held the position of Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement to Vice President Joe Biden.[25][26] Sher left the White House in January 2011.[27][28]

In September 2011, it was announced that

DOMA litigation.[3] Nosanchuk's title as Jewish Liaison was Associate Director for Jewish Outreach in the White House Office of Public Engagement.[3]

After three years in the position, Nosanchuk was succeeded in May 2016 by former

State Department staffer Chanan Weissman, the first Orthodox Jew to hold the position in a Democratic administration.[4]

Trump administration

Six months into his presidency, President Trump had not appointed a Jewish liaison, and a senior administration official told the media that the White House had no plans to fill the post.[2] The president's special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, informally acted as a conduit for contact with the organized American Jewish community.[2]

Previous Jewish liaisons from the George W. Bush and Obama administrations spoke to the press to discuss the importance of the post and called for an appointment to be made.[2] Senior leaders from Jewish community described their concerns over the effects of the situation.[2]

A bipartisan group of 44

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland also called for him to fill both posts.[33]

In August 2017, 11 former Jewish liaisons, from the Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations, issued an open letter describing President Trump's reactions to the violence in Charlottesville and other examples of anti-Semitism as showing "that he neither understands his responsibilities nor the nature of the ancient hatred of anti-Semitism and other forms of hate."[11]

The liaisons' letter described Trump's "equivocation and unwillingness to speak clearly, without restraint, against blatant examples of racism, anti-Semitism and related manifestations of hate, as well as his refusal to lay blame for violence, [as] anathema to the best traditions of his office and to the examples set by the presidents we served," and as "exposing not just Jews but all Americans to greater danger."[11]

Biden administration

In August 2021, Biden made Chanan Weissman, a National Security Council staffer who had served as Jewish liaison during the Obama administration, the White House liaison to the Jewish community.[34] In 2022 he was succeeded by Shelley Greenspan, policy advisor for partnerships and global engagement at the National Security Council.[35]

References

  1. ^ "White House Office Of Public Engagement Launched, Replacing Office Of Public Liaison". Huffington Post. June 11, 2009.
  2. ^
    Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original
    on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  3. ^ on July 15, 2013.
  4. ^ a b JNS.org (13 May 2016). "Obama's new liaison to Jewish community is Chanan Weissman". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  5. ^ a b c d James Besser, Wanted: Obama administration Jewish Liaison, The Jewish Week (New York) – JW Political Insider blog, January 19, 2009
  6. ^ a b "Exclusive: Meet the new White House Jewish liaison". Jewish Insider. 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  7. ^ a b c Hou, Courtesy of the White (30 March 2016). "Obama's Jewish Liaison Matt Nosanchuk Steps Down". The Forward. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  8. ^ Smith, Terence (March 8, 1978). "Carter Aide Leaves Liaison Post". The New York Times.
  9. ^
    The Jewish Daily Forward
    .
  10. ^ Hartstein, Larry (September 25, 1995). "Skokie Native Enjoying Role As Clinton Aide". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e "11 Former White House Jewish Liaisons: Trump Doesn't Understand anti-Semitism". Jewish Telegraphic Agency / Haaretz. August 19, 2017. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  12. ^ "Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  13. ^ "Clout St: National Dem targets three Illinois congressional races". newsblogs.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  14. ^ Gross, Max (May 2, 2003). "Marking Israel's Birthday in Music". The Forward. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  15. ^ Morel, Linda (2007). "Passover Recipes for a Crowd". JW Magazine. Jewish Women International. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  16. ^ "Trojan Family Magazine". www.usc.edu. Archived from the original on 2005-11-24.
  17. ^
    The Jewish Daily Forward
    .
  18. ^
    Jerusalem Post
    . Jul 13, 2008.
  19. ^ Matthew E. Berger (Aug 8, 2003). "Bush Names Orthodox Adviser As New White House Jewish Liaison". The Jewish Press.
  20. ^ "White House Names Jewish Liaison, the Fourth of Bush's Administration". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 1, 2005. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016.
  21. ^ a b Smith, Ben. "Staffing up the RNC". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  22. ^ "2006 White House Office Staff List - Salary - washingtonpost.com". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  23. ^ a b Bush picks Neusner as Jewish liaison, JTA, May 18, 2004
  24. ^ Ian Herbert, Susan Sher, Washington Post – WhoRunsGov.com wiki, June 25, 2009
  25. ^ Eric Fingerhut, For now, no separate Jewish liaison for Obama, JTA, February 4, 2009
  26. ^ "eNews Park Forest". eNews Park Forest. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  27. ^ "First Lady's Chief Of Staff Leaving White House" Associated Press, CBS News, November 16, 2010.
  28. ^ Katherine Skiba (January 29, 2011). "First lady's former chief of staff 'blissfully unemployed'". Chicago Tribune.
  29. ^ Shabad, Rachel (June 17, 2012). "Obama sits down with rabbis". Philadelphia Jewish Voice.
  30. ^ "White House to name new Jewish liaison". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
  31. ^ Park, Sumner (July 11, 2017). "Lawmakers press Trump to appoint liaison to Jewish community". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  32. ^ "Lawmakers urge Trump to appoint White House Jewish liaison". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 23, 2017. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  33. ^ Cortellessa, Eric (July 6, 2017). "Top Democrat urges Trump to appoint anti-Semitism envoy, Jewish liaison". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  34. ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (August 5, 2021). "Former Obama White House Jewish liaison reappointed to role under Biden". Forward. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  35. ^ Deutch, Gabby (July 27, 2022). "White House to name Shelley Greenspan new Jewish liaison". Jewish Insider.

External links