in my opinion, ive always found most italian mobsters to be generic. but in my view jewish mobsters were tougher, smarter and more business like than most of the italian mobsters....most jewish mobsters goals were to one day go legit, in business and leave the mob life behind so to speak. also most jewish mobsters were a one generation only thing, they never involved thier kids or families in the life.....unlike most italian mobsters whos kids or family members, become the next of kin in the mob life. the jewish mobsters never wanted thier kids to grow up and become gangsters/mobsters....and kept them seperate from the life. the opposite of what Bonanno, Gambino, Trafficante Sr., and Gotti did....just to name a few mobsters that had thier sons involved in the life.
I think the approaches of the Jewish gangsters you mentioned differed from the approaches of the Italian gangsters you mentioned partly because of the long existence of organized crime in Italy and Sicily specifically.
Mafia existed before any large wave of Italians ever set foot in America. It's existence was known and was (at least on the underbelly) a part of society in Sicily for decades before 1900.
I've not heard or read about Jewish organized crime in German, Poland, or Russia before the first world war.
What the Siegels of the world put together in America was something new....distinctly American. Because it didn't have the framework or history that cosa nostra did, jewish organized crime in America was free to evolve on it's own.
I get the impression that they couldn't compete directly with the "mafia"....so they became associates, affiliates and formed their own niche(s)
