Disappointed Jewish Donors Abandoning Obama

Jewish donors and fundraisers are telling President Barack Obama to find more common cause with Israel or risk losing their financial support for his re-election bid, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the run-up to Obama’s Middle East in a speech today, prominent Jewish Democrats, such as former New York Mayor Ed Koch, and deep-pocketed supporters of Israel worry he’s been unduly hostile toward the United States’ most important regional ally.

One go-to donor, Virginia developer Robert Copeland, said he won’t support Obama in 2012.

“I’m very disappointed with him,” Copeland said of the president. “His administration has failed in Israel. They degraded the Israeli people.”


Complaints include Obama’s failure to visit Israel to date, a perception that he’s gone easier on the Palestinians in the peace process, and a belief that Obama snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by making an early exit from a White House meeting between the two.


The re-election team has launched a repair effort, assigning the 2008 campaign’s finance chief, Penny Pritzker, to talk to prominent Jewish Democrats about their concerns.