Pelosi's
Israel Connection

Jennifer
Jacobson
JTA Wire
Service

NOVEMBER
10, 2006
Washington

Before a packed meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
three years ago, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) connected her political
support for the Jewish state with her personal life. "My daughter is
Catholic. My son-in-law is Jewish," she said. "Last week I celebrated my
birthday and my grandchildren -- ages 4 and 6 -- called to sing 'Happy
Birthday.' And the surprise, the real gift, was that they sang it in
Hebrew."

Now that the Democrats have taken control of the U.S. House of
Representatives, the party is expected to install Pelosi, 66, as speaker,
making her the first woman to hold the position that is two heartbeats
away from the presidency.

Political observers say it's no surprise that the congresswoman from
San Francisco considers herself close to the Jews.

The daughter of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., a former mayor of Baltimore,
Pelosi grew up in a Democratic family with Jewish neighbors and friends.

"She likes to say that, growing up in Baltimore, she went to a bar or
bat mitzvah every Saturday," Amy Friedkin, a former president of AIPAC and
a friend of Pelosi's for 25 years, wrote in an e-mail message to JTA.

Friedkin noted that there's even a soccer field in the Haifa area of
Israel named after the lawmaker's family.

While the Republicans had campaigned partly on the premise that support
for Israel among Democrats has waned, exit polls from Tuesday's voting
show that Democrats won an overwhelming majority of the Jewish vote.

With Pelosi as speaker, Jewish activists and officials are confident
that the U.S. Congress will remain strongly pro-Israel.

"I've heard her say numerous times that the single greatest achievement
of the 20th century" was the founding of the modern state of Israel,
Friedkin wrote. "She has been a great friend of the U.S.-Israel
relationship during her entire time in Congress and is deeply committed to
strengthening that relationship."

Sam Lauter, a pro-Israel activist in San Francisco, has known Pelosi
for nearly 40 years. He was 5 years old when the Pelosis moved into his
San Francisco neighborhood, he recalls. The two families lived on the same
street.

"She's one of the classiest," most "straightforward people you could
ever meet," Lauter said. "She's incredibly loyal."

Lauter said the Pelosis used to attend the first night of the Passover
seder at his parents' house. "As far as the Jewish community is concerned,
she feels our issues in her soul," he said. To illustrate his point,
Lauter told a Pelosi story that has become almost legendary in the Jewish
community.

At an AIPAC members luncheon in San Francisco right after the Sept. 11
terror attacks, Pelosi was speaking when an alarm sounded.

"Everybody started getting nervous, scrambling toward the door," Lauter
recalled. One person, though, was reading the words of Hatikvah, the
Israeli national anthem, above the din. It was Pelosi.

"It actually calmed the crowd," Lauter said. "You could see people
actually smiling, saying 'Wow.' " This "wasn't something done purposefully
to show everyone that Nancy Pelosi supports the Jewish community," he
said. It "actually came from inside her."

Lauter and others say Pelosi will have to draw on that inner strength
as speaker, since Lauter predicted that she will hear from those in the
Jewish community who argue that Democrats no longer support Israel the way
they used to.

Some Republicans, in fact, questioned Pelosi's support for Israel this
summer. The congresswoman ended up removing her name as a co-sponsor from
a House resolution supporting the Jewish state during its war with
Hezbollah because it did not address the protection of civilians.

While Pelosi's aides said she was not going to lend her name to a
resolution that did not contain a word she had written, Republicans
criticized the move.

"It highlights a real wave within the Democratic Party that wants a
more 'evenhanded' approach on these issues, and that wants to view Israel
through the same prism as we do Hezbollah," Matt Brooks, the executive
director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said at the time. "Watering
down is not acceptable right now."

Brooks could not be reached for comment this week.

For his part, Lauter believes the argument about the Democrats and
Pelosi is false.

For instance, he noted Pelosi's quick response to former President
Carter's description of Israel's settlement policies as "apartheid" in a
forthcoming book.

Pelosi publicly announced that Carter does not speak for the Democratic
Party on Israel. Rabbi Doug Kahn, director of the Jewish Community
Relations Council in San Francisco, also applauded Pelosi's repudiation of
Carter's position.

He has known Pelosi since she started representing his district in
1987. Kahn said his group has always had an excellent working relationship
with her. And he praised her passion for issues that relate to equal
opportunity, social justice and peace.

Kahn, echoing Lauter's point, said that Pelosi, coming from a city with
such a liberal political reputation, will face challenges from the liberal
segments of the Democratic Party that have criticized Israeli policies.

But he is confident that Pelosi, as speaker, will be effective in
persuading people with a broad range of views on the Middle East, the
importance of maintaining bipartisan support for Israel.

When it comes to Israel, "she truly gets it," said Matt Dorf, a
consultant to the Democratic National Committee. She gets "Israel's value
and asset to U.S. security" and its "importance as the only democracy in
the Middle East."

Jewish organizational officials also commend Pelosi's record on Jewish
communal issues.

William Daroff, vice president for public policy for the United Jewish
Communities, the federation system's umbrella group and a Republican
himself, said the lawmaker has helped ensure federal funding of Jewish
family service agencies and Jewish hospitals and has supported government
programs and policies that Jewish organizations value, such as Medicare
and Medicaid.

He also noted that Reva Price, Pelosi's liaison to the Jewish community
for a year and a half, came from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs,
the umbrella group of local community relations councils. Bringing on
board such an insider was "really a masterful stroke," Daroff said.

Price, he added, has done a wonderful job of playing "traffic cop" with
Jewish organizations and in making sure that Pelosi's agenda is in tune
with that of the Jewish community.

She's been "a real champion of making sure the Jewish community is well
served," Daroff said of the lawmaker. "I'm sure she'll continue to be a
champion."

This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

To read more, pick up a copy of the Jewish Times at one of our newsstand
locations.

To purchase a subscription or send a gift subscription, fill out our on-line
form.

Respond to this story

Featured Jobs powered by JewishCareers.com

More Local Jobs Post Jobs Post Your Resume Search Jobs

Copyright ©2006 the
Baltimore Jewish Times