The American Jews are starting to desert Obama and the Democrats

Near the end of his first term, many submit that President Barack Obama is the most anti-Israel president in U.S. history. Though still overwhelmingly Democrat, the latest Gallup poll indicates President Obama's support among Jews has eroded by some 15 percent.

Ed Klein, author of The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, claims the decline could make a difference in swing states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania that have a large contingent of Jewish voters. But according to a recent Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll, Obama still holds the lead in all three (see earlier story).

"He has done two things that I think have offended the Jewish-American community," Klein notes. "He's been anti-business, anti-free market, anti-capitalism [and] anti-individualism. And two, he has been very critical … blunt and unfriendly toward Israel."

Klein, also the former foreign editor of Newsweek Magazine and a Jew himself, suggests one would think the Republican Party would be more attractive to Jews, as they typically favor free-market capitalism and family values.

"It's been tradition since Franklin Roosevelt, who assembled a coalition back in the 1930s, including Jewish-Americans," the author asserts. "And secondly, it's been a sense that Jewish-Americans have, given their history of their interest in social justice. And the Democratic Party has pandered to them on that issue."

The Republican Party has mounted a major push to reach American Jews. For example, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is backing one group's effort to "convert" Jewish voters in battleground states who have been life-long Democrats.