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June 11, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the administration's ironclad commitment to Israel and to countering antisemitism. Both included support for a two-state solution--the only solution that ensures Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state--as part of that commitment.
- The Biden administration's decision not to adopt or codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism will allow us to fight antisemitism without inappropriately conflating criticism of Israel or Zionism with antisemitism.
- The findings of a new study showing that antisemitism is more prevalent on the right than on the left should be no more surprising than the common knowledge that other forms of bigotry are more prevalent on the right than on the left. Every form of hate is different but instead of emphasizing what is unique about antisemitism, we should build alliances by emphasizing the commonalities between antisemitism and other forms of hate.
- Urge your members of Congress to join Rep. Jan Schakowsky's (D-IL) letter commending the Biden Administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and encouraging the administration to push the UN to adopt a similar strategy.
- Trouble breathing? You can clear the air by voting Republicans out of office unless they start taking climate change seriously. This is a government issue and it cannot be addressed if we have elected officials who refuse to address it. Cough up some time or money and get involved.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
There is a time for everything under the sun, including a time to criticize and a time to celebrate. Last week was a time to celebrate Israel's achievements. On June 6, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog and his wife, Ms. Shirin Herzog, hosted an event celebrating Israel’s 75th Independence Day and 75 years of the Israel – U.S. alliance featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. Almost 2,000 guests, including yours truly, attended the celebration at the National Building Museum, making it the largest event ever hosted by the Embassy of Israel in Washington D.C.
The attendees included members of Congress and, as Herzog said in his remarks, "Jews and non-Jews, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives." The food was delicious and the logistics were handled perfectly.
Herzog said, "our people survived the Holocaust - an unparalleled systematic attempt to exterminate an entire people. Yet we managed to emerge from the valley of death and establish, just a few years later and against all odds, a thriving state, a vibrant state, a democratic state. There is no example in human history of such a miraculous revival. While facing existential threats, wars, and continuous campaigns of terror and boycotts, Israel wrote an amazing success story."
Herzog said that Vice President Harris, "like President Biden, is a true friend of Israel" and he expressed gratitude to the Biden administration "for the first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism."
Herzog acknowledged that "Israel is an imperfect democracy. And we, like you, have our own set of internal challenges. As a young nation, only 75 years 'old,' we are still grappling with important questions relating to our democratic system. But let me assure you: I am confident that Israel will remain a vibrant democracy." I would add that the U.S. at 75 was in a more precarious position.
Harris spoke movingly of her personal connection to Israel and said that "at the core of the U.S.-Israel relationship is America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel." She was applauded throughout her speech, including when she reiterated the administration's support for a two-state solution and when she said that "when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and that is unacceptable" (the logical, albeit unstated, corollary is that when Israel is singled out for reasons other than anti-Jewish hatred, that is not antisemitism).
She received even stronger applause when she noted that "the values that have been the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship" include "an independent judiciary."
JDCA CEO Halie Soifer served as Harris's national security advisor when she was in the Senate and last week wrote from personal experience what you need to know about Kamala Harris and the Jewish community.
The previous day, June 5, Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Summit. Blinken too spoke movingly of his personal connection to Israel. On the issues, his speech was similar to Harris's, although he did not mention the proposed judicial overhaul.
But unlike Harris, Blinken was not applauded for reiterating the administration's support for a two-state solution, which he said "is vital to preserving Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state." Blinken conceded that "the prospects of a two-state solution can feel remote" but said that "we are committed to working with partners and with the parties to at least maintain a horizon of hope," which includes rejecting – "unequivocally – any actions taken by any party that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution." That might not be what it means to be pro-Bibi but that's what it means, at least to me, to be pro-Israel.
Letters, calls, complaints, and great thoughts from readers. Last week's newsletter on President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and how to define antisemitism elicited more than the usual amount of reaction, nearly all of it respectful, reasonable, and well-articulated.
I did my best to respond but Jonathan Jacoby wrote an article that did a better job than I did. Please read it. You'll be smarter if you do.
David Schraub provides a real-life example of how the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism (the IHRA definition) can be misused.
Also in last week's newsletter, I referenced a new study showing that anti-Jewish beliefs are far more popular on the right, particularly among young people. Peter Beinart last week noted that this research contradicts a mistaken view espoused by some organizations that antisemitism is equally prevalent on the right and the left.
Beinart said that in America, "antisemitism is not as different from these other forms of bigotry as we might believe. It is one expression of an exclusionary, narrow kind of vision of what it means to be an American that you find on the right, which tends to exclude Blacks and Jews and trans people and women, etc. [because] the American right has a much more kind of narrow, exclusivist, hierarchical vision of identity, whereas the American left, for all its many, many failings, has more of an aspiration towards genuine equality."
We shouldn't be surprised that antisemitism, like other forms of bigotry, is more prevalent on the right. If we want to successfully fight antisemitism, we should emphasize antisemitism's similarity to other forms of bigotry rather than its differences. We need allies. Our natural allies are on the left, with other marginalized communities, not on the right and certainly not in the Republican Party, which enables and emboldens right-wing extremism and white supremacy.
Urge your members of Congress to join Rep. Jan Schakowsky's (D-IL) letter on antisemitism. Rep. Schakowsky is circulating a letter to United Nations Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield commending the Biden Administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and encouraging her to push the UN to adopt a similar strategy.
The letter, which closes on June 14, applauds the Administration's decision not to codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism and "to instead look to several definitions of antisemitism. Together, these definitions serve as a valuable tool to raise awareness and increase understanding of antisemitism. We believe the U.S. National Strategy properly uses all tools at the Administration’s disposal while maintaining a focus on specific and direct actions to counter antisemitism."
Let's clear the air. Millions of Americans are breathing polluted air because one party, the Republican Party, refuses to take climate change seriously--just as they refuse to take gun safety, democracy, the economy, and nearly every issue except protecting their wealthy donors from taxation seriously.
This is about politics. Either you care or you don't. Either you're content to complain or you're committed to doing something about it. You might not like everything that every Democratic politician stands for. I don't either. As one politician quipped, if you agree with me on eight out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 10 out of 12 issues, write me a check. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.
But ignoring the differences between the parties and ignoring the failure of House Republicans to govern (Pelosi had exactly the same narrow majority that McCarthy now has) makes you part of the problem. Be part of the solution.
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. No one brought any mistakes to my attention last week, so it looks like last week's newsletter was perfect.
In Case You Missed It:
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I’m a rabbi at Princeton. Our campus is not a ‘hotbed of antisemitism.’ Fear is a great fundraising tool. Telling donors that Jewish students on college campuses face rampant antisemitism is a proven fundraising technique. But "Gen Z students approach the world differently from their parents. They take conflicting perspectives in stride. They are comfortable learning and living with others who have radically different views. And they recognize that free speech and open dialogue can be ugly." The kids are alright. And they are right.
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The problem with anti-woke centrism: "When we have a left that is pushing America to finish the work of the 1960s and create a true multicultural democracy and a right that is banning Black intellectual ideas from public schools, it’s a huge mistake for powerful non-Republicans in society to spend so much time bashing the left. This anti-woke centrism often sounds as though people are auditioning to be today’s version of the 'white moderates' the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. castigated six decades ago." Perry Bacon Jr.'s article dovetails with Rob Eshman's article about two high-profile Los Angeles lawyers forced to step down after sending antisemitic messages--they also sent emails attacking gays, women, Blacks, and Asians because they resent "sharing power with people who aren’t like them. Some people are threatened when society’s opportunities open to people who were traditionally kept out or looked down upon. They see the pie as finite, and think they deserve seven slices." The opposite of "woke" is "antisemitic."
Tweets of the Week. Adam Rothman and Calum Barnes.
Seriously? They didn't have to endorse insurrectionists and they didn't have to tweet this last week. Pat Robertson was a bigot whose bigotry included antisemitism and who thought that support for Israel was a defense against antisemitism. If you are okay with this tweet then you're not in a position to criticize anyone for associating with or saying nice things about the likes of Louis Farrakhan. This tweet is not from a parody account. It's real, and as of this writing it has not been deleted.
Twitter Thread of the Week. Ariel Edwards-Levy (and the replies).
Video Clip of the Week. The perfect Republican Father's Day gift: Boycott Binders.
This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved 2022 and 2023 Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder. If someone forwarded this to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
My most popular Times of Israel posts are How Not To Define Antisemitism and Pro-Israel Or Pro-Bibi? I periodically update my Medium posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. You can read my most recent effort to define "pro-Israel" here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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