To: FJB who wrote (669755 ) 8/28/2012 2:58:59 PM From: joseffy 1 Recommendation Respond to of 1583867 Obama campaign refuses to drop 'radical' rabbi Controversial figure dined with Ahmadinejad, called for boycott of Israel by Aaron Klein wnd.com NEW YORK – The Obama campaign is refusing to sever ties with a radical rabbi who has called for a boycott against Israeli products, has dined with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was the first American rabbi to visit Tehran. Reform Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb is one of 613 rabbis pledging their support for Obama as part of the presidential campaign’s official “Rabbis for Obama” group unveiled earlier this week. The Obama campaign website says “Rabbis For Obama” sees the president as an “advocate for issues important to the Jewish community.” “The endorsement of President Obama by the rabbis speaks volumes about the president’s deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel and his dedication to a policy agenda that represents the values of the overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community,” Ira Forman, Jewish outreach director for the campaign, told the Huffington Post on Tuesday. However, Gottlieb’s inclusion on the list has prompted two conservative groups to call for her removal, a move the Obama campaign is now refusing to accommodate. The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Emergency Committee For Israel have both called for Gottlieb’s removal from the campaign list, citing what they say is the rabbi’s anti-Israel views. Gottlieb is a prominent member of the Jewish Voice for Peace. The Jewish Voice for Peace pursues corporate, university and governmental divestment from Israel. Gottlieb herself called for a boycott of all Israel products in a YouTube video . She was the first U.S. rabbi to visit Iran on an official mission. In 2008, she spoke at an interfaith dialogue Ramadan dinner with Ahmadinejad even after the Iranian leader had denied the Holocaust and called for the destruction of Israel.