Trump’s choice for foreign affairs spooks Jewish community

Fox News reported that president-elect Donald Trump has picked Tillerson as Secretary of State.

In the wake of the news of Tillerson’s nomination, the Democratic Party has upped their ever-shrill condemnations against Russia.

Anti-Russian lawmakers have warned that the chairman and chief executive officer of the world’s sixth largest company by revenue, would face intense scrutiny over his two-decade relationship with Russia, in what promises to be a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate.

Tillerson meets Putin, Wikipedia

In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin inducted Tillerson into Russia’s Order of Friendship following Exxon-Mobil’s energy investments in Russia. In 2014, the American energy giant hit the largest oil deposit in the company’s history, estimated to be larger than the entire Gulf of Mexico.

But in 2014, President Barack Obama placed economic sanctions on Russia – in response to his administration’s plans in Ukraine. The sanctions essentially shut down Exxon-Mobil’s Russian operations before they could begin to pay off.

The Arctic well is among the most expensive Exxon that will ever drill, costing at least $600 million. The spending is justified by the potential prize. Universitetskaya, the geological structure being drilled, is the size of the city of Moscow and large enough to contain more than 9 billion barrels, a trove worth more than $900 billion at today’s prices, Bloomberg reported.

Tillerson has been publicly skeptical about anti-Russian sanctions, which halted Exxon-Mobil’s lucrative projects in Russia.

Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and an influential voice on Jewish communal policy, says the Jewish community is nervous about Trump’s choice.

“There’s some real causes of concern,” said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and an influential voice on Jewish communal policy.

Halber noted that Tillerson, in his time at Exxon, is said to have opposed the practice of the US using economic sanctions as a diplomatic tool.

Jewish leaders told Forward that Tillerson’s opposition to sanctions, his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin and the general oil industry bias towards Arab states all made them anxious.

Although the Zionist Organization of America president Mort Klein is a Trump fan, he expressed displeasure with the notion of Tillerson running the State Department.

Another Klein, Ron Klein, a former Democratic Congressman from Florida who led a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC, said that Tillerson’s Russia ties were a chief concern. “In general, people who have led oil companies are not that friendly to Israel,” Klein said. “That concerns me.”

Klein added that oil executives, who they said often have longstanding relationships with Arab leaders, and are generally not attuned to Israeli interests. “Russia is not necessarily a friend to the US,” Klein said. “If Tillerson and the president, who he takes his direct orders from, both have a special place in their hearts for Putin, then I think there is and there should be a lot of bells ringing that this could be a problem for US. interests, and Israeli interests as well.”

Tillerson, a deal maker, has spent the past four decades at Exxon, signing oil and gas agreements for a company running operations in some 50 countries.