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October 27, 2024
Six Key Takeaways:
1) It's been 387 days since October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel on Simchat Torah and murdered 1,200 people (including 44 Americans). More Jews were murdered on that day than on any day since the Holocaust. Hamas wounded 3,300 and took 251 hostage during a day of brutal savagery and sexual violence; 101 hostages, many dead, some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza.
2) The 101 remaining hostages include seven Americans, four probably alive: Keith Siegal, Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai. A ceasefire conditioned on releasing all hostages must remain a top priority.
3) General John Kelly, Donald Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, said that Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law.
4) While president, Trump said, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had." This election is not a choice between competing policy preferences. This is as hard to say as it is true to say: It is a choice between democracy and fascism, and the latter includes antisemitism.
5) Sinwar is dead because Israel followed the Biden-Harris administration's advice regarding Rafah. The Biden-Harris administration never threatened an arms embargo against Israel. The Biden-Harris administration rejects charges of genocide against Israel and has called for the elimination of the threat Hamas poses to Israel. We do not have a suspect in the current intelligence leak.
6) Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran demonstrates again the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to helping defend Israel and support Israel's safety and security.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
When a Democrat says something that could even be remotely twisted or taken out of context as anti-Israel or antisemitic, our right-wing friends interpret it in the worst possible way, scream about it from the rooftops, and demand answers.
But when Trump engages in rhetoric whose plain meaning is blatantly antisemitic or anti-Israel in any context, including admiration for Adolf Hitler, Republicans claim that he's joking around and that no matter how many times he says it, he doesn't mean it.
They might concede that sometimes his "sarcasm and attempts at humor" might offend some people but hey, that proves he's not a politician. They tell us to judge him on his actions and that in his case, words don't matter and when people tell us what they think, we should not believe them.
Who should we believe? Trump's apologists or our own eyes and ears? Trump isn't a tough guy who is a bit rough around the edges but will keep us safe. He's an irresponsible, "America First," narcissistic bigot.
A man who admires Hitler, promotes fascist ideology, and would abandon Ukraine and NATO to dictators is not a man who will make an exception for the only Jewish, democratic state in the world. Those who think otherwise are prime candidates for a Darwin Award.
What's with Trump and Hitler? General John Kelly, Donald Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, said that Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law. Kelly confirmed that Trump made admiring comments about Hitler.
Also last week, Jeffrey Goldberg reported that Kelly and others confirmed that while president, Trump said, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had." John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, said regarding these revelations, "You can take what John [Kelly] says to the bank."
David Schraub describes the three Republican responses to Trump's Hitler rhetoric: deny he said it, say it's old news (we already knew he admired Hitler), or say Trump is right.
Watch Kamala Harris's response (37 seconds--worth your time) and decide for yourself if her response is better than the three GOP responses.
Trump repeatedly invokes Hitler and Nazis. Trump called for the "creation of a unified Reich" on May 21, 2024. No less an authority than JD Vance once called Trump "America's Hitler."
A candidate who sees things in Hitler to admire is dangerous to Jews, America, and the world. A political party that supports that candidate does not deserve our support.
If you have Republican friends unclear on the concept, ask them to watch this short Daily Show video to see how Trump's Hitler comments are forcing The History Channel to make some big changes.
Trump and his supporters might not know what "fascism" means (Trump has falsely accused Harris of fascism), but that does not make him any less of a fascist.
This Jake Tapper clip is too good to summarize--watch it.
This isn't an election between competing policy preferences like Obama vs. McCain or Obama vs. Romney. This election is about democracy. This election is between Kamala Harris, a candidate who respects democratic norms and whose policies may or may not match our preferences, and Donald Trump, a 34-time convicted felon who paid hush money to cover up sex with a porn star four months after his wife gave birth to prevent Americans from knowing his true character before an election, a man who stole classified documents, incited an insurrection, was found legally liable for sexual abuse, refused to accept the results of a lawful election, wants to ban abortion, and compiled a terrible record as president.
This is an election between Kamala Harris, a candidate whose only connection with antisemitism is fighting it, and Donald Trump, who comes with a long record of antisemitism and accusing Jews of disloyalty.
Trump dined with Kanye West and white nationalist/Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
Trump said that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the 2017 Charlottesville march that featured white supremacists carrying tiki torches chanting "Jews will not replace us."
Trump lashes out at the vast majority of Jewish Americans and defended antisemite Kanye West, saying that Ye is a "really nice guy" with a "good heart."
How can anyone concerned about antisemitism vote for Trump? How can anyone who supports Israel think that the U.S.-Israel relationship would be better off under a president who does not understand history, democracy or any of the values that underlie the U.S. and Israel relationship?
If you are afraid that our alliance cannot withstand rational scrutiny you need to ask yourself why you have so little faith in Israel and the American people that you'd gamble everything on someone as unreliable and unstable as Donald Trump.
On September 19, Trump said that Jewish people ought to have their heads examined and that if he doesn't win, "the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that." Read the transcript of the relevant portion.
Trump's approach to everything is purely transactional--what is best for Donald Trump. Every four years we hear that the Jewish vote is in play. And every four years, whether Democrats or Republicans win, the Jewish vote is always overwhelmingly Democratic.
But in 2006, when Republicans were claiming, as they always do, that they'd do better with Jewish voters, then-Senator Joe Biden responded differently from Trump: "There’s nothing to break Democratic support for Israel, nothing, even if every Jew in the country votes Republican,” he said.
Centuries of persecution have imbued most Jews with a healthy instinct for self-preservation. Upwards of 70% of Jewish voters will vote Democratic. The mystery is why, the evidence staring them in the face, any Jew would have such low esteem or little concern for Israel's safety and security that they'd vote for Donald Trump.
Today, Trump, the isolationist, America First, antisemitic candidate for president is holding a rally in Madison Square Garden, which cannot help but invite comparisons to the 1939 Nazi rally held in the Garden. Sydney Blumenthal writes, "Trump’s Maga rally will be the first time since the 1939 Nazi rally that the same themes of the replacement theory will echo in the Garden."
Or maybe it's a coincidence. If you repeatedly use Nazi rhetoric, eventually you're going to use it in the same place that Nazis used it. The only way to find out for sure whether it's a coincidence is to elect Trump.
This tweet from Rabbi Michael Latz could be the Tweet of the Year and sums it all up.
Department of Facts. As the election heads into the final days, the right-wing disinformation machine will swing into high gear, flooding the zone with sh*t and hoping that some of it sticks to our shoes.
Remember: Sinwar is dead because Israel followed the Biden-Harris administration's advice regarding Rafah. The Biden-Harris administration never threatened an arms embargo against Israel. The Biden-Harris administration rejects charges of genocide against Israel and has called for the elimination of the threat Hamas poses to Israel. Harris and her administration have consistently maintained these positions.
Friday night, Israel struck Iran, and the administration "reaffirmed the ironclad commitment of the United States to Israel's security and right to self-defense." Read more about the administration's response, including its call on all countries of influence to press Iran to stop these attacks against Israel. Point second-guessers complaining that Israel did not attack Iran's nuclear or energy infrastructure to this thread from Israeli Americans for Kamala.
Contrary to racist reporting, there are no suspects yet in the intelligence leak investigation (which did not prevent Israel's strike). But we have identified one person who compromised Israel's security. In 2017, Israeli intelligence officers were furious that then-President Trump disclosed classified information gathered by Israel with Russia. While president, Trump revealed Israeli intelligence to senior Russian officials, including details of a covert Israeli mission to penetrate an Islamic State cell deep in Syria. Trump repeatedly abused classified information while in office. If that's your issue, you're not voting for Trump.
Some of the above links came from (or are) previous newsletters. You might not save them all but I do. Please let me know if you need help countering what you're hearing if you don't find it in the resources below.
Your key resources for the next 11 days: It's not unreasonable for your undecided friends to want to know more about Kamala Harris. Use the following resources.
This JDCA fact sheet compares Harris and Trump on Israel, Iran, and antisemitism.
Harris is better than Trump on Iran ,and Trump's entire Middle East policy was a failure; if anyone asks, "what about the Abraham Accords?" tell them to read Dalia Dassa Kaye's article.
The Democratic and Republican platforms on Israel and antisemitism. If you care about either issue and you read both platforms, you're voting for Kamala Harris.
Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. If you care about either issue and you read both posts, you're voting for Democrats up and down the ballot. Still not sure? Learn Harris’s record of fighting antisemitism, including on college campuses.
Be sure you and your friends stay up to date. Share the sign-up links for my newsletter, Julie Zebrak's Kamala News Jews Can Use, and the official Jewish Voters for Harris-Walz newsletter.
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. In last week's Sunday newsletter I incorrectly wrote that the Rafah issues occurred in 2023 instead of 2024. Looks like Monday's special newsletter on false accusations against Kamala Harris was perfect.
In Case You Missed It:
1) Eugene Robinson: The double standard for Harris and Trump has reached a breaking point.
2) Alexandra Petri: It has fallen to me, the Washington Post humor columnist, to endorse Harris for president.
3) Halie Soifer: Why Jewish voter turnout matters in this election.
4) Kinney Zalesne: The case to Israel supporters to vote for Kamala Harris.
5) Doug Kahn: Why Trump is the wrong choice for the Jews.
6) Jeremy Levin: I ran Israel’s largest company. Here’s why I support Kamala Harris.
7) Rita Katz: I tracked anti-Jewish extremism for 25 years. Re-electing Trump will make it worse.
Tweets of the Week. If you don't immediately get the movie references, brush up on your cinematic literacy: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Doug Emhoff.
Serious Video Clip of the Week. Ben Sheehan explains why Shabbos Kestenbaum (talk about a name out of central casting) is wrong--especially if you care about fighting antisemitism--in this short video.
Funny Video Clip of the Week (because we have to laugh): The Question is M0ot.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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