International businessman Ronald Lauder told American Jewish leaders unequivocally last week that he had never given material support — directly or indirectly — to the political campaigns of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

The assurance, coming in the wake of a Jewish Week story that renewed questions about such ties, abruptly aborted a brewing movement to postpone voting Lauder in to lead organized Jewry’s most prominent umbrella group.

Jews across the state have a higher opinion of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani than other groups, but most would choose First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton if the two squared off in a Senate race, according to a recent poll.
The survey of 513 New York State voters conducted by Marist College in Poughkeepsie found that 63 percent of Jews would choose the Democrat Clinton, while only 36 percent would support the Republican Giuliani. The mayor took more than 70 percent of the Jewish vote against Jewish Democrat Ruth Messinger in winning re-election in 1997.