A few weeks back JTA published an opinion piece by Bush administration Jewish liaison Tevi Troy, in which he warned that reports of a downsized White House Chanukah party could add to the perception in some circles that the Obama administration wasn’t showing enough love to the Jewish community and its interests.
The truth is, Troy’s piece was more about Bush-era parties and Obama’s positions on Jewish-related issues in general than it was a criticism of this year’s affair. But apaprently it has some people worked up.
From The New York Times:
But to the dismay of some administration officials, the plans for next week’s party — one of the hottest holiday events for the nation’s Jewish elite — have been overtaken by feverish debate over the size of the guest list, the language on the invitations and what this says (or does not say) about Mr. Obama’s relationship with Jews.
President George W. Bush, who began the tradition of White House Hanukkah parties, invited 600 people to his last party, administration officials say. But rumors spread wildly, first in the Israeli press and then locally, that President Bush had invited 800 people and that the Obamas were planning to invite only 400. (Administration officials say they have invited 550 people.)
The invitations have also caused some consternation because they make no mention of Hanukkah, inviting guests to “a holiday reception” on Dec. 16.
In an opinion article published by JTA, the Jewish news agency, Tevi Troy, a former Bush administration liaison to Jewish groups, warned that the Obama White House had given Jewish Americans “a number of reasons to fear that it takes its votes for granted.” Mr. Troy cited as examples the administration’s call for a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the decision to honor Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, who has been accused by some Democratic lawmakers of anti-Israel bias.
Mr. Troy said the reduced guest list created “a nagging sense that there may be a studied callousness at work here.”
His commentary, published on Nov. 23, and an article a week earlier in The Jerusalem Post, touched off a flurry of news articles, blog postings and kitchen table discussions. …
It’s worth noting, as the Times does, that Jewish communal leaders insist this is much ado about nothing. (Of course, what would you say if you were angling for an invite?)
