The Zionist Organization of America objected on Thursday to a letter from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that raises “serious concerns” about a top Trump administration Pentagon nominee.
In a Feb. 5 letter to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff posed 12 questions for the committee to ask Elbridge Colby, the Trump administration’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy, about whether he takes the Iranian threat to Israel and the United States sufficiently seriously.
Morton Klein, national president of ZOA, told JNS that the conference did not consult ZOA before sending the letter, despite listing ZOA and the 66 other members of the conference on the side of the letter, potentially implying unanimous endorsement of the letter’s contents.
“I was very surprised and disappointed that the conference president would send out such a letter with the names of all the organizations on the side as if we’ve approved this letter, when I never knew of the letter, was never told of the letter,” Klein told JNS. “We never had a discussion, a vote, a debate—nothing.”
“It is inappropriate for the conference to put out a letter of any sort, frankly, without approval of the members of the conference,” he added.
In a dissenting letter that ZOA sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Klein endorsed Colby’s confirmation.
“ZOA and I have investigated Mr. Colby’s record,” Klein wrote. “Mr. Colby expressed his view that the United States should continue to provide Israel with U.S. financial aid and everything, any military equipment and ammunition and armamentarium that Israel needs to deal with the Iranian threat or any threat.”
‘I’m not aware of a single letter’
Daroff told JNS that the Jewish organization neither endorses nor opposes presidential nominees and that he sent the letter in consultation with the Conference of Presidents’ executive council, representing the organization’s members.
“It is not the sort of issue that would require any sort of vote,” he said. “There was not an up-and-down vote on whether Mr. Colby should be confirmed. That’s not what the Conference of Presidents does.”
Klein said he was unaware of any previous such letter from the conference, despite ZOA raising concerns about the views of some Biden administration nominees.
“Biden appointed many people that affected Israel or Jews during his administration who were nominated and approved that were very bad on Israel and Jews,” Klein said “I’m not aware of a single letter that the conference put out complaining about them.”
Daroff told JNS that he has previously sent letters to the Senate raising questions and concerns about past nominees in his five-year tenure as CEO of the conference and that he does not believe the Feb. 5 letter was out of the ordinary.
“I don’t think it’s particularly unusual, except for the fact that it got leaked from the Senate,” Daroff added. “We did not issue a press release. I literally sent it to two people: a Senate Republican staffer and a Senate Democratic staffer.”
“Again, nothing in my letter, and nothing that I would say, would express an up-or-down opinion on the nominee,” he added.
‘I don’t see anything untoward’
Colby served in the first Trump administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development. Since leaving public office, he has advocated for a U.S. foreign policy that focuses more squarely on the rising threat from China while limiting American commitments to confront adversaries like Russia and Iran.
He has described himself as a “realist” and contrasts his views with those of “neoconservatives” and the Washington foreign-policy “blob.”
“It’s really important not to get enmeshed all over the place and either bleed ourselves out or have a catastrophic, multifront loss,” Colby said in a November interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Conference of Presidents letter, which was first reported by Semafor on Tuesday, includes questions about Colby’s comments on Iran in that same interview.
“You suggested that a military strike to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons lacked a ‘clear connection to American interests,’” Daroff wrote. “Can you elaborate on why you believe preventing a nuclear-armed Iran is not directly tied to U.S. national interests?”
Daroff told JNS that he believes the “vast, vast majority” of conference members would support him raising unease about Colby’s statements.
“I don’t see anything untoward about asking questions,” Daroff said. “I am certain that Mr. Colby stands behind his record and I look forward to hearing the responses to these questions.”
Klein told JNS that he intended to raise his objections to the letter to Daroff directly. “I want William Daroff to explain to me how could he put something out with ZOA’s name on it without talking to me about it? Or without having a Zoom call, where we’ll discuss it?” he asked. “If there’s a vote, and it’s a consensus vote, I respect that.”
JNS asked Daroff if he had any concerns about the approval process for sending future letters about nominees to the Senate.
“No, not at all,” he replied.
Klein said he believed that the letter and other recent positions from major American Jewish groups on issues like continued support for the two-state solution and failure to endorse the Trump administration’s plans for Gaza reflected U.S. domestic partisanship more than support for Israel.
“There’s something strange going on here. There’s something improper going on here,” Klein said. “This is becoming very clear that this is partisanship more than the issue itself.”