Rationalizations can take you where no man has gone before, Capt. Kirk. Jews believe in free will and in justification by works. Another shot in the air!
Yes, and who said they were the orignal "elect", lol.
I would question this assertion. There are numerous scriptural events which contradict this statement. For example, when Eli was told by Samuel that God was going to wipe out his house, Eli simply shrug and stated, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him." (1 Sam 3). Or blessed Naomi who stated in her despair, "...for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me." (Ruth 1:13) And let's not forget Nebuchadnezzar testimony after his conversion that, "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35)
None of these events sound like the Jews believing in free will to me. On the contrary, it sounds like the Jews believed that God was sovereign and fully controlled their lives. Today's Jew MIGHT believe in "free will" NOW but so what? It only confirms how wrong this doctrine is. Certainly you're not validating Christianity against today Judaism are you?
As Nebz stated, "...no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?" It is impossible to get around this truth.