Obama To Address Federations At GA

(JTA ) — President Barack Obama is speaking next month to the General Assembly of UJC/Jewish Federations of North America.

The speech, set to take place on Nov. 9, will be his first as president to a broad Jewish audience. Some Israeli figures and some leaders of the organized Jewish community have complained that Obama has not done enough to explain his positions on Middle East peacemaking.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also attend the event, which is he organized Jewish community’s largest annual gathering.

For the Jewish Federations, which recently changed its name from United Jewish Communities, landing Obama could provide a boost to a North American charitable network coping with sagging fund-raising campaigns and other significant challenges.

Federation officials had been trying for nearly a year to convince the president to deliver an address at the G.A. But as of early October, when the Jewish Federations announced that Vice President Joe Biden would speak, it appeared as though he had declined to address the meeting.

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