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November 12, 2004/Cheshvan 28 5765, Vol. 57, No. 11
European Jews split on Bush win
RUTH E. GRUBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ROME - European Jews are all over the map in their reaction to President Bush's re-election.
Many European Jews share the vehement opposition to Bush and his aggressive foreign policy that is widespread in Europe. But others applaud Bush for his staunch support of Israel against the Palestinians, his tough stand on terrorism and his administration's role in making the fight against anti-Semitism a high-profile international issue.
While European Jews viewed the election from their own political and community perspectives, Barry Kosmin, executive director of the London-based Institution for Jewish Policy Research, said many Jews appeared to have put Bush's foreign policy ahead of their otherwise liberal feelings.
"There was a little more sympathy for Bush among Jews than gentiles of equi-valent status and education," Kosmin told JTA.
A Jewish relative summed it up best, Kosmin said: "If he were American he'd vote for Kerry on domestic issues, but since we European Jews are only really affected by foreign policy, then Bush was best since he was better for Israel and recognized the Islamic terrorist danger more clearly."
Serge Cwajgenbaum, secre-tary general of the European Jewish Congress, agreed that support for Israel influenced how European Jews viewed the election.
"Without entering into differences which may exist over Bush's domestic policies, many European Jews see him as one of the best allies of Israel," he said. "The U.S. administration has been a key element in allowing Israel to maintain its international position."
In Italy, too, said Annie Sacerdoti, editor of the Milan Jewish monthly Il Bollettino, the generally liberal views of many Italian Jews were restrained somewhat by considerations linked to Bush's pro-Israel policy.
"The fear of change, therefore, led to a somewhat favorable view of Bush's re-election," she told JTA.
But not everyone saw things that way. Claude Hampel, spokesman for the liberal Bernard Lazare Center in Paris, said he regretted that Kerry had lost, because "to move forward toward peace in the Middle East, we need someone who understands Europe and is more open to cooperation."
Jonathan Joseph, president of the European Council of Jewish Communities, voiced concern that Bush's victory could lead to a further estrangement between Europe and the U.S that in turn would impact European Jewry.
"I believe that the election result will see the continuation of a gradual turning in on itself of American culture and regard for Europe," Joseph told JTA. "The Bush victory will unlikely be sensitive to the subtleties of realpolitik in Europe, and particularly our relationship with the Muslim communities that are a part of the societies in which we live."
Rabbi Moshe Garelik, executive director of the Rabbinical Center of Europe, a Brussels-based group of Chabad rabbis across Europe, said he was "confident that the days ahead will mark an enhanced U.S. relationship with Europe and its Jewish community, and the next few years are going to bring positive improvements."
Some European Jews appeared surprised that American Jews had voted overwhelmingly for Kerry.
"I don't believe the polls," Flo Kaufmann, vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told JTA. "All the American Jews I know supported Bush because of his stance on Israel."
Ariel Musicant, head of the Austrian Jewish community, said the Jewish view there was split, but that Europeans should not try to second-guess the American electorate.
The election, he said, "proves again that Europeans should stop their arrogant approach that they know what is better for America. It's not up to Europe to tell Americans that they are stupid and naive."
JTA Correspondent Philip Carmel in Paris contributed to this report.
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