Mr. Bloomberg not-so-subtly sought to distinguish himself from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is also Jewish and who recently took the lead in Iowa, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll of likely caucusgoers. Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, took aim not only at Mr. Sanders’s Israel policy but also at his democratic socialism. “But I am the only one who doesn’t want to turn America into a kibbutz.” The audience whooped. Ari Ackerman, an owner of the Miami Marlins baseball team, was among them, having helped to rally young Jewish support for two of Mr. Bloomberg’s mayoral runs. The speech on Jewish identity was an unusual move for Mr. Bloomberg, a secular Jew who has long not been religiously observant.

Source: New York Times January 26, 2020 23:42 UTC