A leading Democratic operative who has been a top donor to both President Obama and the Clinton Foundation was caught lashing out at pro-Israel Christians, accusing them of "building a stairway to heaven on the backs of the Jews in Israel."
Comments from National Jewish Democratic Council board chair Greg Rosenbaum have led to accusations of bigotry by pro-Israel organizations and criticism from those who advocate for Christian support of Israel.
While speaking Tuesday on a panel hosted by the Jewish Federation of North America, a Jewish community umbrella organization, Rosenbaum attacked evangelical Christians and attempted to distort their religious beliefs.
His comments have attracted particular scrutiny given his previous role as an Obama campaign bundler and current status as a donor to the Clinton Foundation, according to open source materials.
"I’ve always said, you’ve got Evangelical Republicans supporting Israel because they are building a stairway to heaven on the backs of the Jews in Israel," Rosenbaum said.
"We don’t get to go with them, unless—as Michele Bachmann said over the weekend—all of the Israeli Jews convert to Christianity, as soon as possible," Rosenbaum continued. "So you have to look beyond the numbers to really understand how the parties shake out in support of Israel."
Rosenbaum’s remarks were condemned by Christians United for Israel, an advocacy organization that represents millions of pro-Israel Christians across the United States.
"Mr. Rosenbaum is a powerful man. He has the ear of the President of the United States," said David Brog, a member of the Christians United for Israel board of directors. "It's thus especially troubling to hear that he entertains such outrageous conspiracy theories regarding such a large percentage of Americans.
"The context of his remarks clearly demonstrates that he slandered all evangelical Christians who support Israel. It is these Christians he now owes an apology."
Matt Brooks, head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, also condemned Rosenbaum.
"We should not be in the business of ascribing motives to our friends and to people who want to support Israel," Brooks said.
"Mr. Rosenbaum’s remarks are off the mark and frankly insulting", said Rabbis Abraham Cooper and Yitzchok Adlerstein, the associate dean and director of Interfaith Affairs of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization.
"In the decade and a half in which we have worked with many evangelicals we have found that the majority support Israel and oppose anti-Semitism for all the right reasons," the rabbis said. "The leaders we deal with are more concerned that the Mideast does not turn to hell then in trying to get us to heaven."
One senior official with a D.C.-based pro-Israel organization that has worked with the NJDC told the Free Beacon that Rosenbaum's comments are a sign of desperation among Jewish Democrats, who have struggled over the last eight years to explain the Obama administration's animosity towards Israel.
"The Democratic Party is struggling to put adults back in charge of how it approaches Israel and Americans who support the U.S.-Israel relationship," the source said. "The Clinton wing of the party somewhat dealt with the Center for American Progress earlier this week when they put down the 'progressive' kids trying to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
The source was referring to protests by anti-Israel elements of the pro-Obama Center for American Progress, which was forced to fire several staffers in the past for describing the pro-Israel community in terms many described as anti-Semitic.
"It looks like we've still got a few more institutions to clean up," the source added.
Rosenbaum bundled between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama and donated between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to public records. He is also a charter member of the Clinton Global Initiative. President Obama appointed Rosenbaum to serve as a member on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum committee.
In response to the criticism, Rosenbaum attempted to clarify his remarks on Thursday, saying that he was referring to Christians who want to convert Jews.
"To be clear, my remarks were meant to refer specifically to those Evangelical Christians who agree with former U.S. representative Michele Bachmann’s offensive statements surrounding Israel and the ‘biblical prophecy,’ specifically her call to convert as many Jews as possible in the context of ‘seeing the fulfillment of scripture right in front of our eyes, even while we’re on the ground’—not the many Christians, both Republicans and Democrats, who disagree with her," he told Jewish Insider.
Rosenbaum did not respond to a Washington Free Beacon request for comment about his remarks.
His comments are in line with a press statement issued by the council after Bachmann discussed converting Jewish people to Christianity during a recent tour of Israel.