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The violence against Jews in this country over the last few weeks has ripped the mask off the “anti-Zionism is not antisemitism” fraud.

David Harsanyi writes at National Review: 

This week, a wave of Jew-hatred broke out across the United States… Note, these weren’t clashes between pro-Israel demonstrators and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. These were attacks by the latter on whatever Jews they could find. And they should prove the falsehood of the narrative that “anti-Zionism” is distinct from anti-Semitism.

Brett Stephens notes that the progressive movements that speak out against the oppression of all manner of humans are silent about violence against Jews:

[If] there’s been a massive online campaign of progressive allyship with Jews, I’ve missed it. If corporate executives have sent out workplace memos expressing concern for the safety of Jewish employees, I’ve missed it. If academic associations have issued public letters denouncing the use of anti-Semitic tropes by pro-Palestinian activists, I’ve missed them.

It’s a curious silence. In the land of inclusiveness, Jews are denied inclusion.

Liel Leibovitz reminds us that when public safety breaks down, Jews are endangered:

If you’re wondering why so much anti-Semitic violence could explode so suddenly and so forcefully, you’ve only to look back to the events of last summer, when the Black Lives Matter movement set fire to one American city after another.

... American Jews, the overwhelming majority of whom still support the Democrats, have a very serious reckoning coming. The attacks in one American city after the other aren’t spontaneous outbreaks; they’re the direct outcome of a political party enabling a populist movement to redefine the boundaries of acceptable conduct. And as is so often the case when mobs are set loose and allowed to start fires, Jews are the first to suffer.

See also this thought-provoking article by Lee Smith, on how the Democratic Party is enabling street violence as a political tool. 

Dov S. Zakheim notes that on May 20 President Joe Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in response to attacks on Asian-Americans. Zakheim writes:

Nothing of the sort appears to be contemplated in response to the attacks by Palestinian sympathizers on Jewish-American persons, synagogues, and restaurants during and after the latest Israel-Hamas conflict.

… One reason for Congressional inaction is that the pro-Palestinian attackers have the support of the so-called progressive Democratic Left. Democrats in the House have a five-seat majority, while the ultra-Left “squad,” which is blatantly anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, now boasts six members… Another reason for Congressional inaction is that Democrats are reluctant to criticize some of their own progressive legislators, even when the likes of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar issue blatantly anti-Semitic tweets.

This week, Republicans in the Senate and House stepped up to provide more protection to Jewish Americans. 

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a resolution that denounced the "poisonous anti-Israel rhetoric of elected officials that has inflamed hatred and inspired escalating violence against Jews," called out specific comments made by progressive Democrats in Congress accusing Israel of being an "apartheid state" that participates in "ethnic cleansing," and reaffirmed that Jews in the United States should “receive the full protection of the law owed to them as citizens of the United States.”

Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks publicly thanked Senator Hawley for "speaking out against the rise of antisemitism," saying that RJC supported the resolution. 

The full protection of the law for Jewish Americans will be enhanced by the introduction this week of the “Preventing Antisemitic Hate Crimes Act.” The sponsors are Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on the Senate side and Congressman David Kustoff (R-TN) and Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on the House side.

This important bill will bring the strength of the US Justice Department to the fight against antisemitic hate crimes. It will require the Justice Department to designate a staff person to handle the expedited review of reported antisemitic hate crimes. It tasks the Attorney General with reporting to Congress every 90 days on the antisemitic hate crimes reported to the FBI, investigated by the Department of Justice, and prosecuted by the Department during that quarter. The bill will also remove the 10-year maximum penalty for most federal hate crimes convictions if the offender has at last one prior conviction for a state of federal hate crime felony, allowing judges more leeway in sentencing repeat offenders

Read the RJC’s statement of support for the bill here. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) recently made an offensive and ahistorical comparison of proof of Covid vaccination to the yellow star Jews were forced to wear under Nazi rule. The New York Times reported on statements from the Republican leaders in the House and Senate in response to her comments:

After Ms. Greene was met with a wave of public criticism, she refused to apologize, arguing that she had never compared mask mandates specifically to the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews, “only the discrimination against Jews in the early years.”

The condemnations by Republican leaders came after a rebuke from the Republican Jewish Coalition, a prominent organization whose political action committee contributes generously to the party. 

“Please educate yourself so that you can realize how absolutely wrong and inappropriate it is to compare proof of vaccination with the 6million Jews who were exterminated by Nazis,” Matt Brooks, the executive director, wrote on Twitter in response to one of Ms. Greene’s broadsides. 

The RJC has spoken out about Marjorie Taylor Greene before. In 2020 we took the unusual step of supporting Greene’s primary opponent, John Cowan, in Georgia. We did so because we found Greene’s past behavior deeply offensive. She repeatedly used offensive language in long online video diatribes, promoted bizarre political conspiracy theories, and refused to admit a mistake after posing for photos with a long-time white supremacist leader. It is unfortunate that she prevailed in her election despite this terrible record.

The RJC has never supported or endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene. We are offended and appalled by her comments and her actions. We opposed her as a candidate, and we continue to oppose her now. She is far outside the mainstream of the Republican Party

During four years of ceaselessly pro-Israel policy by the Trump administration, we saw how American policy can help Israel be stronger, safer, and more secure and how peace in the region can be attained – at least with the moderate Arab states. President Joe Biden is doing everything in his power to undo the good done by President Donald Trump, and the results are predictably bad.

First, Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi warns:

Both sides-ism” from the Biden administration [during the recent Hamas attacks on Israel] is a boon to Iranian proxies in Gaza who instigated and prosecuted the war. Iran and Hamas understand that Israel no longer enjoys the same American political support that helped keep the peace in recent years. And they plan to make the most of this perceived distance.

In addition, the Biden administration has promised to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, which had served as a de facto embassy for the Palestinians until President Trump closed it down in 2019. Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman says simply: “A consulate to the Palestinians anywhere is inappropriate; in Jerusalem it also is illegal.“ Read his analysis here. 

Finally, as the Washington Times reports: 

The White House is now dismissing President Trump’s Abraham Accords between Arab states and Israel — after candidate Joseph R. Biden in 2020 effusively praised the deals and took credit for laying the diplomatic groundwork.

… Asked by a reporter last week specifically about the status of Mr. Trump’s accords, Jen Psaki, President Biden’s press secretary, responded: “Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don’t think they did anything constructive, really, to bring an end to the longstanding conflict in the Middle East.”

All of this points to a Biden administration Israel policy that echoes what we saw in the Obama years.

It is instructive to examine two very different reactions to the change in US policy toward Israel, from Jewish Democrats and from the national Republican Party. 

The Forward reports on remarks from the Democratic side: 

“There is a new pro-Israel paradigm in the Democratic Party which rejects the false dichotomy of the past,” Halie Soifer, chief of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said in a Wednesday press release. “Being ‘pro-Israel’ and ‘pro-Palestinian’ are not mutually exclusive, and are no longer viewed as a binary choice.”

… “You don’t hear Democrats wavering on Israel’s right to defend itself,” Soifer said. “What you do hear is an additional level of nuance from Democrats reflecting the extremely challenging myriad of issues on the ground.”

So being pro-Israel’s existence and security and being pro-Palestinian destruction of Israel are no longer mutually exclusive. Well, that’s very nuanced.

On the other side of the aisle, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel wrote last week that Republicans stand with Israel: 

The Republican Party unreservedly stands with Israel. President Joe Biden’s Democrats would be hard-pressed to say the same.

This recent spate of violence shows that Biden’s abdication of leadership has undone former President Donald Trump and Republicans’ historic progress in promoting peace in the Middle East. 

When you consider the anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric from Biden’s Democratic Party, his refusal to lead here becomes less surprising. … Biden’s party is allowing antisemitism, implied and outright, to seep into its ranks, even as Hamas has unleashed more violence against Jews.

By contrast, the Republican Party understands that our shared history, shared interests, and deep bond with Israel compel us to support Israelis at every turn. Despite what violent Hamas terrorists or antisemites might believe, Israel has a right to exist, and America must make clear we stand with our Israeli friends, especially when they are under attack. I urge Biden to stand up to the antisemitism in his party’s ranks.

Democrats will lose if they don’t support Israel

For serious political junkies: Josh Kraushaar explains the electoral danger that Congressional Democrats face if they continue to move away from support of Israel. 

Your only two choices are Zionism and anti-Zionism. Pick wisely

Liel Leibovitz writes, “Simply put, there are only two sides now: the Zionists and the anti-Zionists. Given the events of this past week, it is incumbent upon every person who wants to have any effect on the future, Jew and non-Jew alike, to understand how and why this is—and to pick a side, and soon.”

Congratulations

The RJC congratulates former White House Middle East envoy Jason D. Greenblatt on receiving an Honorary Doctorate and delivering the commencement address at Yeshiva University’s 90th annual commencement ceremony.

The RJC congratulates Dr. Miriam Adelson, on receiving the Champion of Freedom Award from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She accepted the award on behalf of herself and her late husband, Sheldon Adelson a”h. 

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