Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update
Calling balls and strikes for the pro-Israel community since 2006
August 25, 2019
If you remember nothing else, at least remember this:
- Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, regularly traffics in anti-Semitism, and has not been condemned by Republicans for his anti-Semitism; instead, other leading Republicans have followed his example.
- Trump thinks 80% of us are ignorant or disloyal, but Democratic votes in Congress prove that knowledgeable American Jews are remaining loyal to their values when they vote Democratic.
- Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) don't represent the Democratic Party on Israel or anti-Semitism, have been condemned by Democrats for their views on those issues, and don't influence Democrats on those issues.
- Read to the end for fun stuff and upcoming events. I love when you tell me about typos.
Friends,
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) explained that "this is a version of the vile, anti-Semitic attack that for centuries has demanded that Jewish people demonstrate some kind of quid pro quo in return for being considered loyal citizens. It is also a dangerous subversion of our American principle that all are entitled to their own views and that Americans’ patriotism or loyalty does not depend on any one political affiliation or voting preference."
Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA)
Executive Director Halie Soifer said that "Trump has no right to tell Jewish Americans that he knows what is best for us or to demand our loyalty. We live in a democracy, and Jewish support for the Republican Party has been halved since Trump has been in office – from 33% in 2014 to 17% in 2018 (according to Pew) – because Trump doesn’t represent Jewish or American values."
But Ivanka is Jewish.
Yair Rosenberg explains that even if Trump does not intend to harm Jews, he is reinforcing classic anti-Semitic slurs. Rosenberg writes that "Trump believes all the anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews. But he sees those traits as admirable."
The problem--and Rosenberg gives examples--"is that even when this type of anti-Semitism is not being wielded as a political cudgel against Jews in the way Trump has been doing this week...at best, expression of such stereotypes by the most powerful man in the world affirms and reinforces the beliefs of bigots who see those anti-Semitic ideas as reasons to hate Jews. At worst, given the right impetus, the coin of philo-Semitic anti-Semitism can easily be flipped, and all those formerly positive stereotypes can be weaponized against Jews."
Donald Trump is the face of the Republican Party. He is not an outlier. He is the leader of the GOP. He has far more influence and power than any member of Congress, let alone two of the least senior members. The white supremacists who shot up synagogues in
Pittsburgh and Poway were emboldened by the climate created by Donald Trump, not two members of Congress. The ADL found that of 249 anti-Semitic acts committed in 2018 attributable to known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology,
all were perpetrated by right-wing extremists.
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) do not represent the Democratic Party. We might agree with them on certain domestic issues, but their support for the Global BDS Movement directly contradicts the
Democratic platform, and their history anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks is inexcusable.
But it is not whataboutism to maintain a sense of perspective and priority: They are two out of 435 members of Congress. Donald Trump is the President of the United States. Let's not play the "both sides have a problem game" when both sides have problems of markedly different magnitudes. The Democratic problem starts and ends with those two. The GOP problem goes straight to the top.
When Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
posted an anti-Semitic tweet about Jewish money buying the election in October, Republicans didn't condemn him. Instead, they elected him House Minority Leader. They also elected Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who described himself as "
David Duke without the baggage," as the #2 House Republican.
Two weeks ago, we learned that Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the Chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee,
invoked the same anti-Semitic stereotypes raised last October by McCarthy. It's no coincidence that McCarthy and Emmer mentioned George Soros. The ADL explains
the anti-Semitism behind the Soros conspiracy theories. Neither Emmer nor McCarthy has apologized, and nor have other Republicans condemned them. But some people expect every Democrat in Congress to assign a staffer the full-time job of monitoring everything Tlaib and Omar post on social media, as if we don't already know where these outliers stand.
Two is not a trend. No matter how often we hear about them, they are still two out of 435 House members with no influence in the Democratic Party on matters pertaining to Israel and anti-Semitism.
The proof is in the votes. All
23 votes against the House resolution condemning anti-Semitism were Republican votes, including the #3 Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney.
Not only was the resolution not not watered down, but its
clear and specific definition of anti-Semitism included the type of language Trump used last week: "accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the United States constitutes anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors...the House of Representatives rejects the perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the United States and around the world, including the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign allegiance, especially in the context of support for the United States-Israel alliance."
Last month, the House passed two major pro-Israel bills,
H.R. 1837 and
H.R. 1850, by unanimous consent. Is that erosion in Democratic support?
Over
90% of Democrats voted
to condemn BDS. More Democrats than Republicans voted for this resolution. We sometimes forget how large the Democratic majority is, and it's large not because a couple of media savvy Democrats replaced other Democrats, but because a wave of moderate Democrats replaced Republicans in toss-up and Republican-leaning districts. That, my friends, is a trend.
Upcoming Events. Join JDCA this Monday, August 26, at 11:00am Chicago time for a conference call with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro to discuss the Jewish response to President Trumps policies and rhetoric, and what it means for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Sign up here.
This Tuesday, August 27, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is hosted by Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering. I'm a co-host.
Here's the invitation, which contains the
RSVP link.
Dana Gordon and I are hosting presidential candidate Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7:00pm in Highland Park. Contributions are not required
but RSVPs are, either by replying to this email or by
clicking here.
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: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more. Intelligent, well-informed people may disagree with me; read opposing views and decide for yourself. A link to an article doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. I take
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