Santorum Failed to Disclose Speaking Fee from Messianic Jewish Group

David Streeter — March 22, 2012 – 4:49 pm | Election 2012 | GOP Presidential Candidates 2012 Comments (1) Add a comment

Politico reported that not only did Republican presidential candidate former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) receive payment for speaking to the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America’s 2010 conference, but that he failed to disclose the speaking fee to the Federal Election Commission. According to Politico:

In 2010 Rick Santorum was paid to speak to a controversial religious group unpopular with some Jewish leaders because it seeks to convince Jews to accept Jesus.

The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America paid Santorum $6,000 to speak at its 2010 annual conference, according to a filing released Wednesday showing a total of nearly $95,000 in speaking fees that Santorum previously failed to disclose.

The alliance supports Messianic Judaism, which embraces Jewish heritage and customs but holds the fundamental Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God. Its beliefs are similar to those of the group Jews for Jesus, which has drawn particular ire from Jewish leaders for its proselytizing efforts….

Some Jewish leaders have denounced Messianic Judaism as ‘religious fraud’ intended to convert Jews to Christianity.

In 2008, Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, which was created to fight anti-Semitism, condemned ‘duplicitous proselytizing of Jews by groups such as Jews for Jesus and so-called “Messianic Jews.”’...

The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, which is based in Central Pennsylvania, initially tried to land Sarah Palin and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, both of whom are devout Christians who are strongly supportive of Israel, as speakers at its 2010 conference, according to Chernoff.

‘Rick was our next call, because we liked him and we liked where he was coming from spiritually and values-wise’ Chernoff said. He added: ‘In the pantheon of fees, his wasn’t that big. Most of the [political figures] that we want to come are extremely expensive, and it’s just out of our budget.’

Click here to read Politico’s full report. 

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