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Kerry names partisan gunslinger as special envoy on anti-Semitism

The Democratic Party’s chief watchdog on Republican statements about Jews and Israel was appointed as the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism on Monday: Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that Ira Forman will serve as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Ira Forman, a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford ...

The Democratic Party's chief watchdog on Republican statements about Jews and Israel was appointed as the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism on Monday:

The Democratic Party’s chief watchdog on Republican statements about Jews and Israel was appointed as the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism on Monday:

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that Ira Forman will serve as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Ira Forman, a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford Universities, previously served as Director of Congressional Relations for the Office of Personnel Management during the Clinton administration. He led the National Jewish Democratic Council for fifteen years.

The position, designed to strengthen ties between Jews and practitioners of other faiths and creeds regardless of party affiliation, spent much of his career at the National Jewish Democratic Council lambasting Republicans for everything from unfortunate gaffes to egregiously taboo remarks.

A not-atypical headline for one of Forman’s writings as a Huffington Post blogger may include "Republicans Spout Typical Drivel to Demonize Obama as Anti-Israel" or "The Shamelessness of the Republican Jewish Coalition" or "Are Jewish Republicans Serious?"

After Mitt Romney announced his decision to hold his presidential announcement at the Ford Museum on February 13, Forman told the Associated Press he was "deeply troubled."

"Romney has been traveling the country talking about inclusiveness and understanding of people from all walks of life," Forman said. "Yet he chooses to kick (off) his presidential campaign on the former estate of a well-known and outspoken anti-Semite and xenophobe." (Forman was referring to automaker Henry Ford, who was indeed a raging anti-Semite and was the only American mentioned in Hitler’s Mein Kampf.)

One imagines Forman’s new post will take a less partisan overtone. The release notes that Secretary Kerry made the announcement in conjunction with the new 2012 International Religious Freedom Report. You can read the full item here. The State Department did not immediately respond to a question for comment.

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