A recent Gallop poll shows that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are virtually matched in a race for Jewish support. According to the recent poll, 48% of the Jewish Democratic voters favour Clinton to Obama’s 43%.

According to the poll, Clinton would win 66 percent of the Jewish vote to 27 percent for John McCain, in the general election, and Obama would win 61 percent to McCain’s 32 percent.

At the same time, either match-up would represent an improvement for the Republicans compared to the performances of recent GOP presidential nominees among Jewish voters.

These results are despite the widely published controversy over Obama’s commitment to support for Israel. The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) has indicated that these attacks on Barak Obama are attempts at smear campaigning by the right. The NJDC has recently demanded that Senator McCain condemn the Tennessee Republican Party for issuing the latest of these “smear campaign” tactics against Senator Barak Obama which attempt to paint him to be an anti-Semite.

Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, has likewise spoken out against this type of smear campaigning along with representatives from a number of other influential organisations.

The NJDC has published Middle East fact sheets summarising the records of both Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama on Israel issues. They are unequivocal in their approval of both Clinton and Obama’s records with respect to proven supportof the U.S.- Israel relationship. Both have spoken eloquently on the Israel-US friendship and have the voting records to backup these statements.

_{(Issue June 2008)}