Profiling? It's OK in Washington if it's Jews

It's been going for decades in Washington – especially in the military and intelligence sectors.

Jews and former Israelis continue to be negatively profiled for government employment and contractor positions, especially those that involve security clearances.

Impossible you say?

No, it's a dirty little fact and hardly a secret in Washington.

How can this be so when Barack Obama and the Washington establishment consistently denounce the idea of "profiling" people?

Let me tell the story of how Obama's vaunted Office of Personnel Management (you know, the office that was victimized by the biggest hack of government personnel records in the history of the world) makes it a point of accusing Jews with any contacts in Israel, as well as former Israelis who have become U.S. citizens, of divided loyalties that prohibit them the getting security clearances and often jobs they are especially qualified to do.

I've known about this since 9/11 – though I admit when I first encountered the claims, I was too astonished to believe it.

After all, didn't we all agree with the post-Holocaust sentiment "never again"?

Bad news. It's happening again.

Jews are being singled out, profiled, denied government jobs, denied security clearances for no more of an "offense" than having relatives in Israel.

Case in point: Gershon Pincus, 62, a dentist from New York. As he was approaching retirement, he wanted to do something to give back to his country using his skills. He found a position at a naval dental clinic in upstate New York and started work in July 2014.

Last September, Pincus was surprised to be informed that he wasn't eligible for a security clearance.

Why?

The stated reason – in writing – was "foreign contacts and interests may be a security concern due to divided loyalties."

Divided loyalties?

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Who were these subversive foreign influences on Dr. Pincus?

It turns out they were his 89-year-old mother and his middle-aged brother and sister, who had moved to Israel as adults.

Here's how that verdict was reached: The local military interviewer who conducted Pincus' first background check concluded that "there is nothing in his background or character that would make him vulnerable to blackmail, extortion, coercion or duress."

But then came an official at the OPM, headquartered at Fort Meade, directing that Picus be re-interviewed "to develop information related to potential Foreign Influence."

The second interviewer reached the same conclusion as the first.

But that didn't stop the witch hunt.

The military overruled the recommendations and denied Pincus' request for a security clearance.

The story was recounted in the New York Post, which found that the practice – when it comes to Jews – is actually quite common.

"We don't know how often the military denies security clearances, but a database cataloging the appeals brought by employees of military contractors reveals that over the past decade there have been more than 100 appeals challenging clearances denied because of tenuous ties to Israel," the report found.

"To appreciate how absurd this is, replace Israel with the name of another country also closely allied with the United States. Can you imagine a dentist being denied a clearance because his relatives had relocated to England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain? The appeals database confirms that more denials are based on ties to Israel than to all of those countries combined. And when denials are challenged, they're more likely to be reversed if arising from contacts with those countries."

Isn't this amazing?

Not really.

The sad fact is there is a growing bias against Israel in Washington, under the Obama administration, on college campuses where Israel defenders are often denied a forum to speak, in short, wherever so-called "progressives" reign supreme.

The worst part of this bigotry is the harm it does U.S. security.

Some of the most valuable intelligence assets are Jews who emigrated from Arab and Muslim countries who speak Arabic and know the culture of this part of the world that dominates national security discussions.

And, of course, the practitioners of this abusive policy are the very people who find it objectionable to "profile" other segments of the population.

Do you get the picture?

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