NEW YORK — When John McCain stopped in New York one Tuesday in October to make his pre-primaries pitch to a room full of Jewish bigwigs, he spent virtually all his time discussing foreign policy — after an emotional introduction from James Tisch that focused less on policy than the character of the presidential candidate standing before them.

Tisch, a scion of a family real estate empire, proud Republican and decorated Jewish communal leader, invoked the memory of the late Washington power lawyer David Ifshin and his unlikely friendship with McCain.

Back when McCain was a prisoner of war being held and tortured by the North Vietnamese, Ifshin — then a hard-core anti-war protester — visited Hanoi to speak out against US involvement in the war. His remarks were piped into McCain’s cell.

WASHINGTON — When the question of recognizing Israel landed on President Harry Truman’s desk in May, 1948, he had to balance the advice of his old friend, Clark Clifford, against the general he deeply admired, George Marshall.

In the end Truman went with his friend, recognizing the new Jewish state.

In sizing up the candidates’ advisers, most of the scrutiny in the Jewish community has been on Barack Obama — in part because of his inexperience on the national stage and in part because of Republican campaign tactics.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has issued a string of statements and advertisements portraying Obama as relying on advisers who are hostile either to Israel or the pro-Israel lobby.