Jewish Country Club Split in Feud Over Barack Obama and Israel

President Barack Obama plays golf. Image by Getty

By Nathan Guttman January 17, 2017

If you thought the controversy over President Obama’s relationship with Israel was going quietly into the night, think again.

After several members of the exclusive Woodmont Country Club voiced their opposition to granting Obama membership because of what they viewed as criticism of Israel, supporters of the president are pushing back.

Now, one of the prestigious club’s lifelong members resigned to protest his fellow members “disrespect” to Obama.

The Washington Post reported that Jeffrey Slavin, whose father was also a member of Woodmont, sent an email to the club manager stating he can “no longer belong to a community: Where Intolerance is accepted. Where History is forgotten. Where Freedom of Speech is denied. And where the nation’s first black president is disrespected.”

Slavin, who is the mayor of Somerset, a posh suburb just outside D.C., told the Post that he was inspired to take the move after listening to civil rights activist Rev. William J. Barber speak at his synagogue, the Washington Hebrew Congregation, after the Friday service.

It remains to be seen whether the First Golfer will actually take up membership after leaving office later this week.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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