While recent polls have shown that American Jews still favor President Barack Obama for re-election, despite his rocky relationship with Israel and with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a new video released this week suggests that the opposite may be true, or at the very least that some of the American Jewish population is still undecided.
“Pastrami Politics” is a fun video which at the same time reveals some strong and confused attitudes that Jewish Americans have towards President Obama and his policy on Israel.
The video was filmed by Rabbi David Nesenoff, who personally walked up to people seated at several kosher delis in New York, asking them about the food and then proceeding to inquire about Obama and Israel.
Rabbi Nesenoff is the same person whose interview with Helen Thomas revealed the long-time journalist’s hateful views on Israeli Jews, who she said should “go back to Poland.”
Some of the people shown in the video admit having voted for Obama in 2008 but at the same time say they are now reconsidering their vote in the November elections. Some of the issues raised include Obama’s Cairo speech in which he reached out to Muslims, his stance on attacking Iran, and his calling on Israel to return to the indefensible pre-1967 borders.
Rabbi Nesenoff told Arutz Sheva, “I was actually surprised by their answers, especially that so many of them had similar feelings. Even those who were still fans of Obama were not very trusting of him and did not like his foreign policy.”
He added that the video, which was posted to YouTube last week, “is getting a lot of attention because of its raw honesty.”
“It’s very difficult for a Democrat to vote Republican but many will do it for the sake of Israel. It certainly provokes much discussion,” noted Rabbi Nesenoff.
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Source material can be found at this site.
