http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/3330.stm
Wesley Clark's Jewish
Roots
Ron Kampeas
Special to the Jewish
Times
SEPTEMBER 18, 2003
Washington
Raised a Southern Baptist
who later converted to Roman Catholicism, Gen. Wesley Clark knew just what to
say when he strode into a Brooklyn yeshiva in 1999, ostensibly to discuss his
leadership of NATO's victory in Yugoslavia.
"I feel a tremendous amount
in common with you," the uniformed four-star general told the stunned roomful of
students. "I am the oldest son, of the oldest son, of the oldest son -- at least
five generations, and they were all rabbis."
The incident could be a
signal of how Clark, who became the 10th contender in the Democratic run for the
presidency on Wednesday, relates to the Jews and the issues dear to
them.
Apparently Clark, 58, revels in his Jewish roots.
He told
The Jewish Week in New York, which first reported the yeshiva comment in 1999,
that his ancestors were not just Jews, but members of the priestly caste of
Kohens.
Clark's Jewish father, Benjamin Kanne, died when he was 4, but he
has kept in touch with his father's family since his 20s, when he rediscovered
his Jewish roots. He is close to a first cousin, Barry Kanne, who heads a pager
company in Georgia.
Clark shares more than sentimental memories with
Jews.
He couples liberal domestic views that appeal to much of the Jewish
electorate with a soldier's sympathy for Israel's struggle against
terror.
Appearing in June on "Meet the Press" on CBS, Clarke said he
agreed with President Bush's assessment that Israel should show more restraint,
a reference to the policy of targeting terrorist leaders for
assassination.
"But the problem is," Clark continued, "when you have hard
intelligence that you're about to be struck, it's the responsibility of a
government to take action against that intelligence and prevent the loss of
lives. It's what any society would expect of its leadership. So there's a limit
to how much restraint can be shown."
Speaking to the New Democrat Network
this year, Clark said that dismantling Palestinian Authority President Yasser
Arafat's Ramallah headquarters was "a legitimate military objective from their
perspective.
"For the Israelis, this is a struggle really for the
existence of Israel," Clark said in remarks quoted on a support group's Web
site.
Clark is also tough on neighboring Arab states, expecting more from
them in nudging the Palestinians toward peace.
He has said he would like
to see Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in a "contact group" similar to the
alliance that Serb-friendly Russia joined to force the Serbs to back down in
Kosovo. He blames Saudi Arabia for allowing extremist strains of Islam to
spread.
The former NATO leader also opposes any active international role
in policing the West Bank until the political situation is settled, a view that
Israelis -- nervous at relinquishing control to foreign troops on their borders
-- would appreciate.
Domestically, Clark favors many of the liberal views
popular with many Jews. He is pro-choice, and is strongly in favor of separating
church from state.
"In order to have freedom of religion, you've got to
protect the state from the church," he is quoted saying on his supporters' Web
site.
One of the leaders of the Draft Clark campaign said Clark's
strength on foreign policy would neutralize an advantage President Bush now has
with Jews, and would bring the debate back to domestic issues, where the Bush
administration is weaker with Jews.
"It makes him credible and allows him
to focus on domestic policy," Brent Blackaby said in a telephone interview from
Clark's campaign headquarters in Little Rock, Ark.
Two of Clark's top
advisers are Jews who had prominent roles in the Clinton and Gore campaigns. Eli
Segal was a top adviser to President Clinton in his first term; Ron Klain helped
run Vice President Al Gore's 2000 campaign.
This story reprinted courtesy
of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
