AN AMERICAN JEWISH – GERMAN INFORMATION& OPINIONNEWSLETTER

GERMANY EDITIONNovember 10, 2010Dear Friends:The members of the Jewish community in the U.S., like most Americans, are in aperiod of decompression trying to get over the election. More about it below.For an “off-year” (mid-term) election the campaigning was extremely intense.When economic times are tough, the competition is passionate to say the least.2010 was no exception. However, no matter which side you were on, you had tobe depressed by the fact that $4 billion dollars was spent by the variouscandidates on the various races. That’s more than a GNP of some smallcountries. That’s awful!However, life goes on…The largest Jewish meeting of the year is taking place in New Orleans. It isalways referred to as the “GA” which stands for General Assembly of The JewishFederations of North America. The Federation movement, collectively among thetop 10 charities on the continent, protects and enhances the well-being of Jewsworldwide through the values of

tikkun olam

(repairing the world),

tzedakah

(charity and social justice) and

Torah

(Jewish learning). It is done throughextensive fund raising.There are 157 Federations plus 400 independent Jewish communities in NorthAmerica so the GA draws thousands of people. All sorts of things are discussedand, as usual, the Prime Minister of Israel is attending to make what normallyturns out to be the most important speech.Vice Pres. Biden made the initial address calling,

“… the U.S.-Israel bond "unbreakable" in a speech at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Speaking before an audience of approximately 4,000 at theopening plenary, Biden said tensions that may seem to exist between the

Obama administration and Israel do not imply a weakening of ties between thetwo countries.

However, “tensions” are painful and the details causing thetensions might be more so. Time will tell.Foreign Minister Westerwelle’s trip to Jerusalem was well publicized. He played itright down the middle, saying that Israel should totally lift to Gaza blockade butrefusing to meet with Hamas representatives. It’s fine that he made the trip but,frankly, it didn’t seem to have much impact. Perhaps I don’t understand, but Icouldn’t figure out what the goal was.As I’m sure you saw in your own media, yesterday, Nov. 9

was the 72

anniversary of Kristallnacht. I wrote a piece that was published in the New Yorksuburban paper,

The Journal News.

You can read it by clicking here.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201011060312

I think it’s time to get on with the news…IN THIS EDITIONIT’S OVER! – The election that is!ELECTION FALLOUT – The Jewish angle.THE FORWARD 50 – America’s leading Jewish weekly picks the 50 Jews whomade the greatest impact this year. I didn’t make the list.

”…

MAKE LIKE THE JEWS” – Would that make Islamics more American?AFRICAN JUDAISM – You can never tell where you’ll find relatives.WHERE ARE THE BOYS? – Are the girls taking over Jewish life in the U.S.?THE ROLE OF THE EU IN THE PEACE PROCESS – If the current EU role isn’thelpful, what could be?IT’S OVER!It felt like it would never end! The election campaign pretty much started the dayafter Barack Obama was elected in 2008. And now that the 2010 results are inwe get no rest before the 2012 presidential campaign begins. The Republicanleader in the Senate has already announced that he wants to make BarackObama a one term president. It’s started! Pity the poor American citizen!Pres. Obama said it best in a nationwide TV press conference. The Democrats2

got “shellacked”. While shellac is a paint covering, my dictionary definesshellacking as “to defeat decisively” and that is what happened to the Democrats.They lost their majority in the House of Representatives, lost a number of governors’ races and took a beating in state legislatures and in even more localelections.Having said all the above, the Dems still control the Senate (with a reducedmajority) and, of course, the presidency. There are pledges all over the politicalspectrum of cooperation and compromise. Don’t believe it! The Holy Grail of American politics is the presidency and while some things might get donebetween now and 2012, don’t count on much!Jewish politicians never run as Jews. They run as Dems or Repubs who happento be Jewish – even though everybody knows who’s what. This time around thelone Jewish Republican in the House, Eric Cantor, was not only re-elected, hewill become the Majority Leader, the second most important post in that chamber of the Congress. It should also be noted that Sen. Chuck Schumer of New Yorkremains the Dem “Whip” in the Senate, the 3

most powerful position in thatbody.

JTA

reported, “

The Republican sweep, picking up at least 60 House seats -- thegreatest swing since 1948 -- and sharply reducing the Democratic majority in theSenate, drove at least six Jewish lawmakers out of office… All told, Jewish representation in Congress dropped from 44 to 39, with 27 Jewsin the House and 12 in the Senate.The defeat of five Jewish incumbents, however, just hints at what this electioncould mean for Jewish access in Washington.Since a sweep by Democrats in 2006, lawmakers with strong ties to the Jewishcommunity had chaired some of the most powerful committees in the House.Committee chairmen, by determining agendas, hold almost unchallengeable power to advance or kill legislation.With Republicans having taken the house, those lawmakers, all Democrats, losetheir chairmanships. They include Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who heads theBanking Committee; Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Commerce and Energy committee; Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Foreign AffairsCommittee; and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the foreign operationssubcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.Furthermore, Jewish groups -- most but not all of which are bound up withWashington’s liberal-Democratic establishment -- will see several veteranlawmakers with whom they have built years-long relationships exiting Congress.The most pronounced example is Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), who chaired the