Is the newly elected Chilean government the most Jewish in the world?
THE CHOSEN PEOPLE
The newly elected Chilean government is the most Jewish government in the world, with three Jewish ministers and one deputy minister serving in the cabinet, Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.
The three Jewish Chilean ministers are: Minister of Public Works Eduardo Bitran, Minister of Planning and Cooperation Clarissa Hardy, and Minister of Mining and Energy Karen Poniachik. They are joined by Deputy Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klavren.
The president of the Chilean Jewish community hosted a party last weekend in his home in honor of the Jewish cabinet members. The Israeli ambassador to Chile David Cohen also participated.
As reported previously by Yedioth Ahronoth, a study conducted by a major Jewish organization in the United States revealed that the Jewish nation has a significant number of representatives in parliaments across the globe considering it is only 13 million strong. The study shows that 214 Jews are currently serving as lawmakers and parliamentarians in countries around the world.
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The names of Jews mentioned in the report have been concealed for fear they might reach hostile elements. The country which has the largest number of Jewish elected officials is Britain, where 61 legislative posts are occupied by Jews: 7 Barons, 37 Lords and 17 MPs.
The United States ranks second with 37 Jewish lawmakers, 11 Senators and 26 Congressmen. France and Ukraine are third with 15 Jewish members of parliament each. Brazil has 11 members of parliament and a Jew occupies a seat in the parliament of the Dominican Republic.
A convention of Jewish members of parliament from all over the world will take place in Jerusalem next week where Jewish lawmakers from 28 countries will discuss ways to fight anti-Semitism...
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COHEN'S COMMENTARY
The claim that the Chilean government is the most Jewish in the world is...well, a little disingenuous. In my humble opinion, the authors had the best of intentions. However, the study does not take into consideration the remarkable success of American Jews in the political spectrum.
According to the CIA factbook, the population of Chile is 15,980,912, as estimated for July 2005. Its ethnic population is 95% White (this figure includes pure White people as well as those Whites who mixed with Amerindian), 3% Amerindian, and 2% other. By religion, Chile is 89% Roman Catholic and 11% Protestant. What is the Jewish population of Chile? Jews would fall into the enthic catagory of "other." In America, for instance, the New York Weekly Forward, a very prestigious Jewish magazine, published an editorial entitled Some Other Race, which urges Jews to list themselves on the U.S. Government census form as a race. It goes on to suggest: “… On question eight [of the form, which asks about race], you might consider doing what more than one member of our redaktzia [editorial staff] has done: checking the box ’some other race’ and writing in the word ‘Jew’.” That Jews identify themselves as Jewish and not White is consistent with Rabbi Stephen Wise's view that Jews are a race: