(IsraelNN.com) Based on their vote, American Jews either don’t care about Israel or are fooling themselves. So concludes GrassTopsUSA columnist Don Feder, of the Boston Herald.

In his column of Nov. 17, Feder writes that the fact that 77% of American Jews voted for Barack Obama in the recent Presidential election proves that Israel is far from a crucial factor in their voting patterns.

“Once again, in 2008, most American Jews voted their religion – liberalism,” Feder wrote. 

Feder feels that other minorities “have a clearer perception of where their interests lie.” He cites statistics compiled by the American Muslim Task Force for Civil Rights and Elections, which says that nearly 90% of Muslims voted for Obama.  “Smart Muslims, dumb Jews,” Feder concludes.

Just 3% Said Israel is Most Important
A survey of two months ago by the American Jewish Committee placed in bold relief the fact that support for Israel is simply not a high priority among American Jews.  When asked: “Which one issue would you most like to hear the candidates for president discuss during the 2008 presidential campaign,” 54% said the economy, 11% picked health care -  and only 3% of the American Jewish respondents chose Israel.

Nearly half of the American Jews polled said they would oppose the United States taking military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Another 11% were unsure.  This, Feder writes, despite the fact that Iran is “led by a raving anti-Semite and Holocaust-denier – who’s said Israel ‘should be wiped off the face of the Earth’ – [and] even though Iran was voted most likely to commit nuclear suicide if it could take Israel with it…”

The AJC poll also found that as Jewish observance went up, support for Obama went down. Obama had the support of just 13% of Orthodox Jews, compared to 59% of Conservative Jews, and 62% of Reform Jews.
 
Nothing Jewish About the Jewish Vote
“On one crucial point, there must be no confusion: There’s nothing remotely Jewish about the Jewish vote,” Feder writes.  “The term Jewish vote is meaningless. It signifies nothing. Today, most Americans who call themselves Jews are ethnically or nostalgically Jewish. They may, occasionally, participate in Jewish rituals involving dreidels or bagels…”

Republicans Should Build More Yeshivas
For this reason, Feder concludes, in addition to bringing evangelical Christians to the voting stations, the Republican Jewish Coalition should spend its money on building more Orthodox Jewish day schools - thereby encouraging the Orthodox to have more children.