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Dec. 22, 1999 thru Jan. 23, 2000*

<<, N1'

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Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) , the
"Iron Chancellor" who brought about
German unification, was guided by
pragmatism. Jews had helped him in his
struggle to unify the nation and other
matters, and he responded in kind,
ignoring an anti-Semitic petition bear-
ing 250,000 signatures demanding the
dismissal of Jews from responsible public
posts and teaching positions and strong
measures against future Jewish immigra-
tion. When shifting political currents
pushed Bismarck sharply to the right,
his target was more the Social
Democrats than the Jews. But he did
nothing to stop Jew-baiting, and by his
inaction, did much to encourage it. The
notion that anti-Semitism was morally
unacceptable under any circumstance
never entered his mind. Bismarck "con-
tributed, by opportunism rather than
deliberate design, to all that followed in
the 20th century."

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Roosevelt's successor, Harry Truman
(1885-1973), however, did not fail in
the Jews' time of need. Despite over-
whelming political opposition, Truman
proved true to his promise of recogniz-
ing the newly created Jewish State of
Israel. Israel's chief rabbi, Isaac Herzog,
phoned Truman and said poignantly,
"God put you in your mother's womb
so you would be the instrument to bring
the rebirth of Israel after 2,000 years."
Tears wet Truman's cheeks, his aide
David Niles observed.

Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), the
communist leader of the Soviet Union
from 1953-1964, denied accusations
that he was an anti-Semite, though his

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Franklin Roosevelt
(1882-1945) has been
criticized for paying only
lip service to the
American Jewish com-
munity that demanded
intervention in saving
their European brothers and sisters dur-
ing the Holocaust. He sent the St. Louis,
a boat-full of refugees, back to its port in
Hamburg, where the Jews on board
would likely face the Gestapo. He
shirked a meeting with representatives of
400 rabbis who gathered in Washington
pleading for action. To historian Arthur
Schlesinger Jr., FDR, "more than any
other person deserves the credit for
mobilizing the forces that destroyed
Nazi barbarism." Looking back, U.S.
Rep. Emmanuel Cellar saw a Roosevelt
who, instead of providing "some spark
of courageous leadership," had been
"silent, indifferent, and insensitive to the
plight of the Jews."

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actions spoke differently. He was anti-
Israel, threatening to flatten the country
with bombs; he also denied emigration
of Soviet Jews to Israel.

Though his term (1958-1963) was all
too short, Pope John XXIII (1881-
1963) was the "best pope for Jews since
the founding of Christianity." He
actively tried to rectify Christian-Jewish
relations. For example, he banned pil-
grimages to the Bavarian town of
Deggendorf, a prime attraction for
Catholic pilgrims who would come to
commemorate the 1337 massacre of the
town's Jews. The pope ordered the
removal of pictures of the event,
inscribed with offensive passages such as
"Godless Jew." He also commissioned
the opening of a synagogue in Madrid,
Spain, the first since 1492. Through the
years, Pope John XXIII also worked on
cleansing church doctrine and prayer of
anti-Semitic passages.

Richard Nixon (1913-1994) remains an

enigmatic figure, coming down on both
sides of the question. At home, Nixon
was an anti-Semite, determined to root
out a suspected "Jewish cabal" in the
Bureau of Labor Statistics; he targeted
"rich Jews" for tax investigations; and he
felt that there were too many Jews in
the Commerce Department and the
IRS. However, his support of Israel was
invaluable. He sent needed military aid
to Israel over and above the amount the
Defense Department recommended.
Most importantly, Nixon intervened in
the Yom Kippur War, heading off a pos-
sible Soviet strike.

Rosenberg, who taught history in New
York public schools for 30 years, ends
his book with a look at our last four
presidents. Jimmy Carter was good
for the Jews, having a key role in end-
ing tensions between Egypt and Israel.
Ronald Reagan, too, proved a friend
to Israel, mostly by looking the other
way in the Jewish state's strikes against
its Arab neighbors, namely Lebanon
and Iraq. Overall, George Bush lacked
the vision of his predecessors, opening
talks with the PLO, delaying loan
guarantees to Israel and dropping the
ball during the Gulf war by failing to
pressure Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to
make peace with Israel. Is Bill Clinton
good for the Jews? For his peace initia-
tives — a tentative yes. But, notes
Rosenberg, "from a Jewish perspective,
Clinton's standing before history must
await [the 21st century], when we see
whether he has contributed to true
peace in the Middle East — or left it
with half-sheathed swords." 7