NJDC, Jack Moline part ways after less than a year

WASHINGTON — The National Jewish Democratic Council and its director, Rabbi Jack Moline, parted ways after less than a year.

Moline, a longtime rabbi in northern Virginia who was prominent in the Conservative movement and close to Obama administration figures, assumed the position at the beleaguered advocacy group in January of this year, and left by Nov. 18.

His absence was noticed only this week, when community figures noted to reporters that his name no longer appeared on the group’s correspondence.

An NJDC spokesman said the decision was mutual, and would not elaborate. Moline declined comment.

His tenure was not without controversy: Within weeks of taking the job, he sharply criticized the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee of “strong arm” tactics in pressuring Democrats in Congress to oppose President Obama’s Iran policies.

He eventually apologized to the AJC, but would not do so to AIPAC.

After the Democratic blowout in this year’s midterm elections, Moline told JTA that the party had not done enough to mobilize Jewish voters in key states.

The NJDC has in recent years lagged behind its GOP counterpart, the Republican Jewish Coalition, in raising funds.

Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate and a prominent funder of Republicans, is appealing a federal court’s dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against the NJDC.