Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday January 14, 2005

Rabbi’s son tapped for top Homeland post

by ron kampeas
jta

washington | Michael Chertoff, the Jewish judge President George Bush nominated this week to head the vast Homeland Security bureaucracy, brings the sensibility of a rabbi’s son to resolving the tensions between protecting Americans and preserving civil liberties.

Bush made clear in his nomination this week he found Chertoff attractive because of his toughness and sterling reputation.

But Jewish community leaders who know Chertoff say the judge would bring much more than that to the position.

“I can’t sing his praises high enough,” said attorney Stephen Flatow, chairman of the community relations committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest in New Jersey. Flatow says Chertoff was instrumental in drafting the USA Patriot Act, which led to the indictment of a Florida-based alleged leader of Islamic Jihad. The group claimed responsibility for the 1995 murder of Flatow’s daughter Alisa in a Gaza Strip terrorist attack.

Chertoff, 51, would be Bush’s second Cabinet-level Jewish appointment; Josh Bolten has run the Office of Management and Budget since 2003.

Chertoff was the top criminal justice official at the Justice Department at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The controversial Patriot Act, which removed walls between the gathering and sharing of information by domestic and U.S. foreign intelligence agencies, accelerated the case against the Islamic Jihad leader, Sami al-Arian, who faces trial in Florida this summer. As a result of this legislation, “they were able to put together the case very quickly but thoroughly,” said Flatow.

Chertoff since has come to question what many consider some of the extremes of the Patriot Act — but that has also earned him Jewish praise.

“To his credit, Judge Chertoff recognized himself that many of things done immediately after Sept. 11 were not things that should have been done,” said Paul Miller, president of the American Jewish Congress, who has met frequently with Chertoff.

“He’s someone who understands the balance we need between protecting people on the one hand, and tools to protect our safety — and also not to destroy our American values.”

Chertoff himself emphasized the need for balance in his short speech accepting the nomination. “If confirmed, I pledge to devote all my energy to promoting our homeland security, and as important, to preserving our fundamental liberties,” he said.

Chertoff has strong ties to the Jewish community. Born and raised in Elizabeth, N.J., he is the son of a rabbi; his two children have attended Jewish day schools; and his wife, Meryl, was a former co-chair of a New Jersey regional Anti-Defamation League’s civil rights committee.

He lives in Bernardsville, N.J.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Chertoff clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court, was a partner with the law firm of Latham & Watkins, served as U.S. attorney and assistant U.S. attorney general. He’s now a federal judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

But his biggest asset may be that he is not Bernard Kerik, the former top New York City cop who withdrew his own nomination for the job following stories about favors he accepted and women he pursued.

“He’s been confirmed by the Senate three times,” Bush exclaimed with a smile at the outset of his introduction of Chertoff, a rake-thin, bearded and media-shy man who hesitantly approached the microphones to accept the nomination Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Chertoff has a reputation for toughness, and it is clear that Bush expects him to tame the Homeland Security beast. “When Mike is confirmed by the Senate, the Department of Homeland Security will be led by a practical organizer, a skilled manager and a brilliant thinker,” he said.

More substantially, Jewish leaders say, Chertoff would bring a rare tendency to reach out to an administration with a reputation for insularity. Many Jewish groups have chafed at what they say is the Bush administration’s “with us or against us” ethos.

Chertoff, a moderate Republican, is well liked on both sides of the aisle.

“Judge Mike Chertoff has the resume to be an excellent Homeland Security Secretary, given his law enforcement background and understanding of New York’s and America’s neglected homeland security needs,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

Chertoff was the sole Republican U.S. attorney whom Bill Clinton kept in place after assuming the presidency in 1993, on the recommendation of then-Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, himself a liberal Democrat, and largely on the basis of his success in pursuing mob figures.

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.