White House Jewish Liaison

The White House staff position of Liaison to the Jewish Community (popularly known as the Jewish Liaison) is a role charged with serving as the Administration's voice to the American Jewish community and gathering the community's consensus viewpoint on issues affecting it for the benefit of White House policymakers. It has existed at least as early as the Carter Administration.

At times, the post has operated within the White House Office of Public Liaison (now called the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental affairs), and its formal title has depended on the rank of the person holding it. Thus, liaisons have held the position of Administrative Assistant for Jewish Affairs, Special Adviser for Jewish Affairs, or Deputy-Chief-of-Staff for Jewish Affairs. As of 2012, the position's title is Director of Jewish Outreach. At other times, the post has been held by persons outside of the Public Liaison Office.

The position is a difficult one to hold. The liaison must be in contact with Jewish organization leaders who believe that they should be able to interact with White House policymakers as the need arises. The Liaison must also gather consensus from, and represent the Administration to, an American Jewish community that is deeply divided on many major issues, including foreign policy, such as the method of achieving Mideast peace, and domestic policy, like school vouchers and aid to parochial schools.

In recent years, the position has regularly been handled by younger staffers holding their first jobs in the executive branch, with little power, and frequently many years younger than the leaders to whom they represent the Administration viewpoint.