Jack Abramoff: Americans Believe The System Is Rigged Against Them
Latest update: January 4th, 2013
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Jack Abramoff
If they doubt that the reforms I’m proposing will be effective, then come up with better reforms. If they think I’m trying to get in the spotlight, what good is it for me being in the spotlight? I don’t earn any money really off of anything like this.
Israel’s foes sometimes portray the Israel lobby as an all-powerful force that controls Washington. As a former insider, what’s your impression?
America’s support of Israel is, in part, because pro-Israel forces are organized. But it generally flows, not from the so-called Jewish lobby – frankly I fear there are more Jews lobbying against Israel than for Israel – but rather from the over 150 million Christians who believe strongly in the state of Israel. Otherwise there’s no way in the world this country would be supportive of Israel.
You reportedly became frum at age 12 after watching “Fiddler on the Roof.” Is that true?
It helped me. In those days, the early 1970s, there was no perceptible ba’al teshuvah movement. Where I lived in Beverly Hills, there were Jews, but the Orthodox were far away from us. I had no exposure to them. One of the first exposures I had was seeing “Fiddler on the Roof.” It was literally one of the only times in my life I had seen traditional Jews. It wasn’t the only thing that impacted me, but it certainly had an impact.
It didn’t have the impact the author of “Fiddler on the Roof” intended, by the way. Shalom Aleichem was anti-frum. He’s probably rolling around in his grave somewhere.
How did matters proceed after watching “Fiddler on the Roof”? Did you go to yeshiva?
No, I wanted to, but I wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t until I went to college that I was among frum people. I went to Brandeis. There actually weren’t too many frum people there either, but that’s where I could be more openly Orthodox.
As an Orthodox Jew, were you concerned about the chillul Hashem your arrest in 2005 caused?
Of course, I was absolutely concerned. I was mortified, but unfortunately I wasn’t in control of it at that point.
When did you do teshuvah? At what point did you cease being a ruthless lobbyist and start becoming a reformer?
It wasn’t until after my career ended and I started to sit down and analyze what I was involved in. I started to look at it honestly without having any skin in the game any longer. It was a process. It took months to come to those conclusions [about my behavior]. They weren’t quickly-reached conclusions and they weren’t conclusions that I didn’t fight against, but I came to them anyway.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Elliot Resnick is a Jewish Press staff reporter and holds a Masters degree from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel School of Jewish Studies.
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Very interesting
Besides being Native American, I am part Jewish. My sons attended Hebrew school to satisfy their God Father and his father. I really would like Jack Abramoff to talk to me and tell me how he found lobbying against the Native American people, so other bad law firms like the one that ruined our rez, our family and left everyone with a 200 plus million dollar debt and a $50 million dollar law suit settlement by a resort company that sued us when the law firm talked our non-member cousin into breaching the contract and taking his company instead……..more money loss. I never wanted a casino. I wanted a web based medical center, medical and dental school, and a multi cultural publishing company. I suppose it is good he is helping investigate, but to reduce his sentence, not because he is a good guy. And now he is making money on harming not just the Native Americans, but every American with his lobbyist scams.