With Jewish campaign money more critical than ever and Jewish votes potentially important in a handful of key states, most of the 2008 presidential candidates are trying to carve out pro-Israel positions they can call their own.

Sen. Barak Obama (D-Ill.) has latched on to the burgeoning effort to increase the economic pressure on Iran through divestment. But Obama’s strong effort on behalf of a major divestment bill is being thwarted by an unnamed Republican senator - and Obama forces say the real culprit is the Bush White House.

The controversy involves the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007, which would require companies with more than $20 million invested in Iran’s energy industry to divest those funds. The measure would also make it easier for state and local governments to purge their own portfolios of Iran investments.

Obama introduced the House-passed measure earlier this summer and called for quick Senate passage; with congressional sentiment running strong on the Iran issue, that seemed a good bet.

But the legislation has been stalled - according to Senate staffers, by a secret hold by a single Republican senator, probably Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Those same sources say Shelby got the green light for the hold from the Bush White House, which has quietly expressed concerns about various divestment proposals because of objections from the business community and concerns about their impact on U.S. efforts to toughen European Union Iran policy.

More at the Jewish Week