THE JEWISH ROLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS

Ralph Nurnberger

DESCRIPTION: This one-time lecture will analyze the 2012 elections from the perspective of the percentage of the Jewish vote in previous presidential elections, as well as in the 2012 race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. This analysis will help determine voting patterns and factors that may have influenced Jewish voters. The lecture will also analyze the newly elected Congress.

We will also focus on historic Jewish involvement in US politics, including efforts to influence decisions by presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman—among others. Finally, there will be a discussion of the formation of the “pro- Israel lobbies,” including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and J-Street. This will include a discussion of how they function, what the differences among them are, and how effective they are.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Ralph Nurnberger is Professor of International
Relations at Georgetown University, where he has taught since 1975. He was named Professor of the Year by the Graduate School of Liberal Studies in 2003, and he received another award in 2005 for 30 years of excellence in teaching. He currently teaches graduate seminars on the Arab-Israel conflict. He has lectured twice for the Middle East Society at Florida Atlantic University (FAU).

Dr. Nurnberger has served on Capitol Hill on the professional staff of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and has spent 30 years in government relations. He has also advised numerous congressional, senatorial and presidential campaigns on foreign policy issues, especially those related to the Middle East.

He served for more than eight years as a Legislative Liaison for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and was the first director of Builders for Peace. In this capacity, he dealt with international leaders, including Israel’s then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, then- Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.