December 11, 2009 11:49 AM

White House Hanukkah Party Spawns Anger

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
White House
(AP)
UPDATED

At the White House, as the Obama administration is learning all too well, a party is never a simple affair. (Just ask the Salahi-stricken Secret Service.)

The latest kerfuffle, the New York Times reports, involves the Obama administration's first Hanukkah party, to be held Wednesday.

One bone of contention has been the guest list: Administration officials told the Times they are inviting 550 people, just 50 less than President Bush invited to his White House Hanukkah parties. But the Israeli press reported that the Obama White House was only inviting 400 people (they may have expanded the guest list since those reports) – and Bush White House officials told reporters they had actually invited twice that number.

It was, some suggested, a snub – and one that critics said should not come as a surprise.

The rumors appear to have been touched off in part by an opinion piece by Tevi Troy, who was a liaison to Jewish groups in the Bush administration. As the Times reports, Troy suggested the Obama administration was taking Jewish votes for granted, citing as evidence the administration's call for a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The guest list issue, Troy said, created "a nagging sense that there may be a studied callousness at work here."

(Clarification: Troy writes in to say that he wrote his piece in response to an article in the Jerusalem Post that said the guest list would be cut in half. "My piece was about what the implications of that decision would be," he said. "The White House has now increased the guest list, which is all to the good, but I did not start the story that they cut it in half.")

Soon there were a number of news stories and rumors proliferating about the Obama administration's alleged "callousness," as exemplified by the handling of the party. There were also complaints that the invitation to the event, which draws elite members of the Jewish community, called it a "holiday reception" instead of specifically mentioning Hanukkah.

Jews at home and abroad have been slow to warm to Mr. Obama – a recent poll found nearly 40 percent of Israelis believe he is Muslim – and it seems the distrust within the community is at least partly driving the anger.

After all, Mr. Bush's White House last year sent an invitation to its Hannukah party that included a Christmas tree. Yet his administration's handling of the party is being compared favorably to the performance of Mr. Obama's administration.

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Jews in the Obama administration include David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Peter Orszag and Larry Summers.

As for the party itself: The Times reports that it will feature a Jewish student choir, children of a soldier deployed in Iraq lighting a menorah, and the presence of the president and first lady.

And, hopefully, enough potato latkes to win over the skeptics.

Add a Comment See all 115 Comments
by kismetcbs December 17, 2009 5:32 PM EST
It's truly disgraceful when the so called "News" media reports some stupid opinion piece by Tevi Troy as fact. He is obviously a Bush operative still shilling for the Republicans to smear President Obama. How totally irresponsible of you to partake is spreading this crap!
Reply to this comment
by robertsgt40 December 16, 2009 3:51 PM EST
Obama is correct when he said we are no longer a Christian nation...certainly at the leadership level. Washington is now occupied territory just as surely as if it were Gaza or the West Bank.
Reply to this comment
by kismetcbs December 17, 2009 5:13 PM EST
This story is disgustingly biased, paranoid and arrogant. You should be ashamed of yourself. And so should any Jew who feels the same way.
by captainkona December 16, 2009 3:11 PM EST
AllAmerican99:

You have some nerve complaining about people "hating" you while you lie like a scurvy dog to our faces in the same sentence. Perhaps this is why people "hate" you. No one like a bold-faced liar.

You are not a Semite. Jews are NOT Semites.
Palestinians, Iraqis, certain of the Kurds... Those are Semites.
You and all Jewry are European Caucasians. Just like my Irish ass.
Quit lying, denounce the depraved and perverted Talmud and you might get some respect. But not until.
No one likes people who think it's ok to have sex with three year olds or rape a woman as long as she's not Jewish.

The hate felt by Jews has ranged from Jacob's deception of his own brother to Nazi Germany to Gaza. After thousands of years, do you think it's possible that Israelis and Jews might be responsible for the feelings the generate by their own actions toward others?
Or is it the rest of the world that has been wrong for all this time?
Reply to this comment
by AllAmerican99 December 16, 2009 1:55 PM EST
Anti-semite racists crawl out from under their rocks every opportunity they get whenever there is a story about people of the Jewish faith.

You'd think it was 1942.

Hate is ugly, and un-American.
Reply to this comment
by Need_for_honest_reporting December 16, 2009 1:28 PM EST
This is the worst sort of hit piece I've read in awhile. There is no basis for the negative reporting. The quoted Jerusalem Post article uses non identified "Jewish Leaders" for negative quotes about this although the only sourced quotes from Jewish Leaders they use are all positive ones.

This article goes on to say that the party is being compared negatively to the ones Bush held but doesn't explain that the person responsible for the Bush parties is the one giving the negative comparison.

Can CBS News go back to reporting news and not make up stories or give forums to people that have vested interests in seeing this president fail and calling them news stories?
Reply to this comment
by thomasmc1957 December 16, 2009 1:19 PM EST
Who cares what the parasitic nation of Israel thinks?

If they don't like the fact that they don't OWN our President, they can just stop blackmailing the USA for billions of dollars in aid every year!
Reply to this comment
by bsdad133 December 16, 2009 6:23 AM EST
Wwhy do Jews get mad when we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As far as I remember, he was born a JEW, lived as a JEW and died a JEW. We Christians pay homage to a JEW. Stop your crying Jews.
Reply to this comment
by deusd December 16, 2009 1:51 PM EST
Hanukkah is the celebration of the victory of the traditionalist Jews over the Hellenistic Jews (look up the Maccabean rebellion) in the 2nd century BCE. The traditionalist Jews cleared the Temple of Hellenistic influence and rededicated it to HaShem ('hanukkah' means 'dedication').

However. The Hellenistic Jews weren't killed or wiped out. They eventually became the first Christians.

History lesson FTW.
by captainkona December 16, 2009 3:20 PM EST
Because it reminds them that they betrayed the Messiah to death.
The very reason Israel knows no peace, is constantly surrounded by enemies, and will remain that way for all time.
by starving1968-1 December 15, 2009 5:38 PM EST
F the cry babies.

They can have their own Hankkah party in Israel.

They can celebrate over the burning Palestinian corpses. It seems to be their favorite party favor.
Reply to this comment
by dsuds1 December 15, 2009 3:07 PM EST
i see cbsnews has done quite a bit of editing, deleting many comments made here. way to go, cbs. i truly love your fairness in being open to many different viewpoints; only when you agree with them, right?
Reply to this comment
by thomasmc1957 December 16, 2009 1:28 PM EST
CBS is just another Zionist propaganda front, or didn't you realize that?
by SomewhereInTheMiddle December 15, 2009 12:21 PM EST
Ah yes! Political correctness at its finest. Bush, who made sure everyone knew he was Christian, hosts a Hanukkah party and that is okay. Obama hosts a "holiday" party for a group of Jews and gets crushed. When are we going to learn that it is not rhetoric but how we act that matters. It's okay for people to be different just not to hate someone for that difference.
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