The rehabilitation of Rick Sanchez: Jews to the rescue

The rehabilitation of Rick Sanchez is in full swing. And what better way to rehabilitate oneself from saying that Jews run the media than recruiting Jews who are influential in the media? A public dialog with celebrity rabbi Schmuley Boteach is scheduled for Jan. 13. Boteach was ordained as a follower of Menachem Schneerson, the putative Chabad Lubavitcher messiah who famously claimed that Jews were an entirely different species from other humans: “We do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather we have a case of . . . a totally different species. . . . The body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of [members] of all nations of the world . . . The difference of the inner quality [of the body] . . . is so great that the bodies would be considered as completely different species. (In I. Shahak and N. Mezvinsky, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, pp. 59–60.)

Boteach is known for his  “Jewish values network” which aims to “to disseminate Jewish Values [with a capital ‘V’] to the mainstream American public through every avenue of the media, and to bring the teachings of the Torah to the masses, making Judaism a light to the world.”

High on Boteach’s  list of Jewish Values is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians — a Jewish Value with an excellent pedigree going right back to the Old Testament. In a HuffPo article “A spiritual night in Hebron” he waxes enthusiastic about the wonderful camaraderie among the settlers who are “liberated from hatred,” their only desire is “to walk in the footsteps of Abraham.” A blogger at Haaretz links to him as a “pro-occupation flack.”

Boteach is one of those Jews about whom one wonders, “Is it deception or self-deception.” Take your pick. I am sure he is wonderfully pro-immigration and pro-multicultural in the American context. Jewish Values and all that.

Sanchez’s comeback is being engineered by Ronn Torossian, a pro-Israel activist P.R. person who is a caricature of a certain type of Jewish personality. Torossian has represented Israeli officials as well as pro-Israel forces in the U.S., including Christian evangelicals Pat Crouch (founder of Trinity Broadcasting) and Pat Robertson, as well as Morton Klein, head of the Zionist Association of America. (Klein likened Mearsheimer and Walt’s work on the Israel Lobby to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.) His Wikipedia page says he “is known for his aggressive and self-promotional style of both his clients and his firm,” and his NYTimes profile is titled “Brash P. R. guy grabs cliens, ink.” The article describes him as “brash and aggressively outspoken, [he] is the consummate scrappy publicist.” He has no formal training; just street smarts, his aggressive, self-promoting personality, and his Jewish connections.

So Sanchez is in good hands. I suspect a quid pro quo: When Sanchez gets reestablished, he will be gung ho pro-Israel–a useful media asset at a time when the ethnic cleansers are on the defensive. Fox News would be a good fit.

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