Thursday, July 11, 2013

conservative or Conservative?

  David Remnick in The New Yorker described Haaretz as "easily the most liberal newspaper in Israel", its ideology as left-wing and its temper as "insistently oppositional."

They published a story today about the new Israeli ambassador to the USA. 
Ron Dermer's challenge: To overcome his reputation as a conservative 
ideologue


Any Israeli ambassador must accept that the U.S. Jewish community is 
overwhelmingly progressive on economic and social issues and supports 
the two-state solution - in short, stalwart Democratic voters.
What does it take to be a great Israeli ambassador to the United 
States?

The question arises once again following the announcement that Ron 
Dermer will replace Michael Oren as Israel’s top diplomat in Washington 
some time this fall.

The job may be one of the most complex diplomatic postings in the 
world, because the ambassador must fulfill so many functions 
simultaneously.

Possibly, three of the most important are to nurture healthy relations 
with the U.S. administration, maintain support for Israel in Congress 
and look after the crucial relationship between Israel and the 
American-Jewish community.

Ambassador Dermer faces challenges on all of these fronts. The Obama 
administration has consented to his appointment because of his close 
ties to Prime Minister Netanyahu, which promise to be useful if 
Secretary of State John Kerry’s initiative to renew Israeli-Palestinian 
peace talks bears fruit. But Dermer must overcome his reputation as a 
conservative ideologue if he wants to forge good working relations with 
a Democratic administration. The same is true in Congress where the new 
ambassador will be welcomed with open arms by Republicans but may face 
initial suspicion from some on the Democratic side of the aisle..."



Many American Jews get the distinction between political conservative and religious denomination Conservative. but it is a much tough distinction for those outside of the USA, and non-native speakers. one of my converts from another country who identifies Jewish Conservative, wanted to know how having a conservative ambassador would impact their Conservative community.

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