No Surprise: The Jewish Christian Basher is also a Bush Basher

This may come as shocking news!

The Jewish Leader who attacked the Christian Right (which he defines as including non-Christians and even Jews) and compared Conservative Christian beliefs as Hitlerian, has also been an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration!

President George Bush has been a staunch supporter of Israel.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, center, flanked by Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, left, and Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matthew Brooks, visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem during a 1998 tour of Israel for Republican governors organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition. (RJC)

The leader of the largest Jewish organization with by far the largest number of certified 100% non-Jews as members – and the number is growing rapidly – Rabbi Eric Yoffie spoke out against American Christians this weekend comparing Christian policy to Hitler’s:

The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them “zealots” who claim a “monopoly on God” while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler’s.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said “religious right” leaders believe “unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person.”

Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly, using the term “religious right” instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, including within the Jewish community.

…”We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations,” Yoffie said. “Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry.”

Jeremiah Stoddard has a devastating two point rebuttal to Yoffie (via Amy Ridenour)

And, Newsbusters is wondering how he gets away with the Hitler analogy?

And,… Once again, these “Christian Right” remarks are not as surprising as the media would want you to believe, if you go back and take a look back at Mr. Yoffie’s liberal background.

Rabbi Yoffie has pushed gun control saying American’s have an idolatry of guns:

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, delivered a sermon this past Saturday to 4,700 people saying Reform Jews should regard gun control as a “solemn religious obligation” to counter what he called society’s idolatry of guns! This is a new and creative twist. A solemn religious obligation, indeed! This, from a group of secularized Jews that recognizes no religious obligations? Truly incredible!

(Marvin Schick has a powerful rebut to his anti-gun comments.)

Yoffie is known to be an outspoken liberal and was a huge supporter of the Israel’s withdrawal plan from the territories:

The president of the Union for Reform Judaism — an outspoken liberal — called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “my hero” for Sharon’s plan for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

And, it is no surprise that Yoffie has been open about his disapproval of Bush Administraton policies:

Yoffie also criticized the Bush administration on several fronts. “Our government is the first in the history of our country to ask the sons and daughters of working men and women to risk their lives in war while asking the wealthy to pay less in taxes,” he said.

The Reform leader also expressed concern over the government’s secret incarceration of people with suspected links to terrorist organizations.

“If anyone is held by my government on suspicion of terrorism, I want to know who he is, not only because I am concerned about his rights but because I am concerned about my own. Let’s not forget: Absolutely nothing in the Constitution limits our rights in wartime.”

Yoffie did praise Bush for his efforts to produce an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and urged him to push forward.

But one official with a major pro-Israel organization argued that Yoffie’s speech represented a rejection of the fundamental assumption of the Bush administration, namely that the first and most important step toward achieving peace is the creation of a Palestinian government dedicated to fighting terrorism.

Yoffie rallied on Capital Hill on March 15, 2005 against the Bush Administration Budget:

The president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, said people of faith should “take back religion from those who use it for selfish purposes” and “listen to the prophet Isaiah, who exhorts us to share our bread with the hungry.”

More on his sermon from the Capital Steps:

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism said, “We are here today to say that when we look at this budget, we see that American politics right now are fundamentally broken – corrupted by abuse, world indifference, and politicians who spend their days dialing for dollars.” He suggests that people of faith: “…send a message to our President and to leaders of both parties that despite squalor for the poor and gated communities for the rich, the great majority of Americans have not given up on ‘We, the People’.”

Yoffie openly spoke out against President Bush during the election:

There is another issue regarding which Rabbi Yoffie differs with the American Jewish establishment – his view of President George Bush. The Jews were not actually considered loyal constituents of Bush or the Republican Party, and even with the new tendency to favor Republicans, it is clear that most Jews will vote Democratic in 2004 as well. But in the last two years, Jews rarely criticized Bush directly. His unwavering support for the state of Israel and its government has transformed Bush into a favorite of the Jewish community. Rabbi Yoffie is trying to contradict this approach. Yoffie stresses that he is not telling anyone how to vote, but he feels that the Jewish voter must also consider the impact of the Bush administration’s policy on domestic affairs.

And, Yoffie spoke out against the War in Iraq for “All Americans” on Friday, November 18, 2005:

“The sentiment was clear and overwhelming,” Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, union president, said in a statement. “American Jews, and all Americans, are profoundly critical of this war and they want this administration to tell us how and when it will bring our troops home.”

But, once again, it’s really no surprise that an anti-war liberal has a history that follows him.

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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