Young Jewish Leadership PAC

Why the Young Jewish Leadership PAC Matters

The mission of the YJLPAC DC Chapter is to strengthen the ties between the U.S. pro-Israel community and the Republican Party.

To Advocate Continued Republican Support for Israel

Since 2000, a time when the President and both houses of Congress have usually been Republican, America has shown strong support for Israel:

Speeding up munitions shipments during the conflict with Hezbollah

• Supporting the barrier fence
• Directing former UN Ambassador John Bolton’s actions to rescind the “Zionism is racism” language that had been adopted by the General Assembly
• Working to isolate the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Territories
• Activities to isolate Syria and Iran

American support for Israel in 2006, under a Republican Administration, was the second highest ever recorded since the poll began in 1988. (Source: Gallup Poll. February 6-9, 2006).

To Educate Republicans on the Importance of Israel

• Israel is the U.S.’s only reliable ally in the Middle East.
• Israel is a strong ally in the War on Terror and a key source of local intelligence. Israel often does the dirty work for American intelligence gathering and military operations.
• Israel is the only example of a working democracy in the Middle East…. a goal of the Republican administration.
• Israel is the only Western outpost in the Middle East and has a comparable value system and culture.

To Leverage Jewish Support

The majority of Jews vote for the Democratic candidates. In the 2004 presidential election, 70% of the Jewish vote went to Kerry and 30% went to Bush.

If the Democratic Party takes our vote for granted, our issues are less likely to matter to them.

The younger the Jewish voter, the more likely they are to vote Republican. In 2003, pollster Steven M. Cohen found that 26% of Jews under 35 surveyed were Republican, as compared with only 11% over age 65.

If we don’t engage effectively with Republicans, we miss the opportunity to advocate our issues with the party whose policies have shaped America’s policies in the Middle East.

Although Jews comprise only 4% of the nation’s electorate, they have very high voting rates. Further, they tend to live in key battleground states — most importantly Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.