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November 6, 2022
Key Takeaways:
- Your ballot is not a restaurant menu where you get to customize your order: Voting Republican means voting to make abortions illegal (even in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother), voting to keep assault weapons legal, surrendering our democracy to fascism, and replacing pluralism with antisemitism and racism.
- This is not a "both sides" issue. Antisemitism and extremist violence is far more prevalent on the right and is emboldened by Republican rhetoric. Democracy is at risk only if Republicans win.
- The only cure for the pandemic of antisemitism in the Republican Party is defeat at the polls, but despite their outrage at even a whiff of antisemitism from Democrats, real or imagined, Republican Jews are ignoring GOP antisemitism and continuing to support candidates who unapologetically and repeatedly engage in antisemitic rhetoric.
- The next Israeli government will include a large number of politicians known for their racist, misogynistic, anti-Arab, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
- Neither Israel nor America forfeits its right to exist and to live in peace and security by making choices at the polls we disagree with.
- The best way to advocate for continued security assistance to Israel is by reminding people that Israel's security needs remain real and legitimate regardless of the outcome of any particular election, not by sugar-coating the election results or by attempting to shut down criticism of Israel by knee-jerkingly labeling it antisemitic or anti-Israel.
Read to the end for upcoming events and fun stuff.
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Hi Steve,
Voting Republican means voting to make abortions illegal (even in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother), voting to keep assault weapons legal, surrendering our democracy to fascism, and replacing pluralism with antisemitism and racism. (Voting Republican also means cutting aid to Ukraine and cutting Social Security and Medicare.)
We have an election in two days. We should have free and fair elections every two years. But that's up for grabs on Tuesday too. Your ballot is not a restaurant menu where you get to customize your order. It's one party or the other, take it or leave it. If you are concerned about Israel and antisemitism, you have more reasons to vote Democratic.
Republican antisemitism is a feature, not a bug, of today's GOP. The only cure for the pandemic of antisemitism in the Republican Party is defeat at the polls, but despite their outrage at even a whiff of antisemitism from Democrats, real or imagined, Republican Jews (a small but vocal minority) are ignoring GOP antisemitism and continuing to support candidates who unapologetically and repeatedly engage in antisemitic rhetoric. Jacques Berlinerblau asks our Republican friends to consider whether right-wing extremists will "care to distinguish Jewish Republicans from Jewish Democrats if and when they come to power."
If you haven't voted yet, make sure you vote or mail in your ballot as soon as you can. Make sure like-minded friends vote. If you can, canvass, phone, or text for a Democratic candidate in a close race or join JDCA's national phone/text banks today or Monday. If you live in the Chicago area, do all you can, in person or by phoning/texting, to help Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), whose race is tightening.
Don't want wake up Wednesday wishing you had done more to defend our democracy, protect abortion rights, and fight antisemitism.
"Both sides" are not ramping up the rhetoric. Max Boot argues that "violence is unacceptable whether from the left or right, period. But we can’t allow GOP leaders to get away with this false moral equivalency. They are evading their responsibility for their extremist rhetoric that all too often motivates extremist actions...the far right is much closer to the mainstream of the Republican Party than the far left is to the Democratic Party."
These are facts: Violence and violent rhetoric is far more prevalent on the right, and while some violence occurs on the left, "no leading figures in the Democratic Party condone, mock or encourage violence in ways that politicians on the right and their supporters in the conservative media have done."
Only one side stormed the Capitol on January 6. Only one side voted overwhelmingly to overturn a free and fair election. Only one side twice nominated Donald Trump--a bigot, a misogynist, a fraud, and a bully--for the highest office in the land. It is not "ramping up the rhetoric" to call on the GOP to observe basic democratic norms, condemn rather than condone antisemitism, and eschew violence.
Should we say "tut tut" and pretend that this is politics as usual with nothing at stake? Exaggerate or make up problems on the Democratic side to create the illusion of even-handedness? Not calling out what the GOP has become (and only the GOP) is the most irresponsible rhetoric of all.
Describing today's Republican Party requires using words that fit. "Fascist" and "antisemite" are strong words. If Republicans don’t like being called fascists and antisemites then they should stop behaving like fascists and antisemites. That’s on them, not on the people calling them out for what they are.
Republicans will point to one or two members of Congress on the Democratic side, as if that's the same as the entire Republican leadership team. The irony is that while the ideas that Republicans ascribe to a handful of Democrats are not gaining traction or power in the Democratic Party, Rep. Margorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose antisemitism is well-documented, will receive major committee assignments if Republicans win control of the House on Tuesday.
As Jonathan Chait writes, Speaker wanna-be Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) needs Greene more than she needs him. You're voting for Greene and a new crop of extremist members of the GOP Freedom Caucus if you vote GOP on Tuesday. Chait documents that while both sides have extremists and bigots, Democrats denounce and punish bigotry. The GOP "isn't even trying."
If that seems partisan, so be it. Elections are partisan. If the "call out antisemitism from all sources in all forms" crowd holds its collective tongue because practicing what they preach would mean calling out almost exclusively Republicans, then shame on them: Pretending both sides are the same when they are not is partisanship at its worst regardless of whether it will protect a 501(c)3's status or placate its donors.
Jill Filipovic writes that the attack on Paul Pelosi--the real target was the Speaker of the House of the United States--"should shock the conscience of the nation. Instead, it has shown just how immune to human decency and empathy the Trumpist right has become." Trump has said nothing and his son mocked the attack (as did Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and Arizona Republica gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake).
Rather than address the undeniable rise in right-wing violence and extremism, Republicans point to isolated examples of left-wing violence. Both sides! But as Filipovic proves, not only is right-wing violence much more common and more likely to be fatal, but when left-wing violence does occur (such as the person who threatened Brett Kavanaugh with a gun and the person who shot Rep. Steve Scalise R-LA), one searches in vain for corresponding incendiary rhetoric from Democratic leaders, and prominent Democrats quickly condemn the attacks. "Prominent liberals with national platforms and connections to Democratic administrations didn’t suggest dressing up as a bloody Steve Scalise or a dead Brett Kavanaugh on Halloween."
Historian Matthew Dallek writes that "Republican leaders of yore, such as Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and both Presidents Bush — though they courted white voters opposed to civil rights — rarely tolerated in public the extremism and conspiracy theories that routinely pass for rhetoric among Trump-supporting candidates. In this regard, what it means to be a conservative has changed, and political violence has accompanied it."
Dallek thinks that it will get worse "until the acceptance of fringe ideas and extremist language and individuals becomes politically costly, and until a set of cultural democratic norms — including the peaceful transfer of power and a healthy tolerance for ideological differences — are restored."
The only way to restore our democracy and protect our rights is to make Republicans realize Americans aren't buying what they are selling, and that means defeating them the old-fashioned American way--at the polls. We'll know on Tuesday if America is up for it.
And in Israel? We can't sugar-coat it and we will fail as pro-Israel advocates if we do. Barak Ravid reports that "the next Israeli government will include a large number of politicians known for their racist, misogynistic, ultra-religious, anti-Arab or anti-LGBTQ rhetoric."
The Shalom Hartman Institute's Yossi Klein Halevi (he and I serve on Heart of a Nation committees) says that "no Israeli leader has inflicted so much damage for his own selfish ends, tearing apart our national identity and cohesiveness, essential for a nation under constant threat from enemies on its borders" as Benjamin Netanyahu.
These election results, even the fact that Israel had an election, are not something to celebrate. Michael Koplow writes that "democracy" is not ''free and fair elections, except for millions of people who are not and never will be eligible for citizenship over security concerns.'' Koplow continues that "maybe Israel’s situation is unique, and maybe Israel is in an unwinnable situation that was thrust upon it, but it is woefully incomplete to praise successful Israeli elections without taking a moment to consider this large caveat and what it means for Israeli democracy."
And yet President Biden's admonition on Wednesday that "you can’t love your country only when you win" also applies to those of us who love Israel but not Bibi. Respecting the democratic process includes not only acknowledging the legitimacy of elections but the right to disagree with those in power. We can be pro-America and pro-Israel, support the right of both countries to thrive in peace and security, and speak out against policies we disagree with. As Emily Hauser reminds us, "those who don’t stand up against that which is wrong are partners in the outcome."
Advocating for Israel will backfire unless we teach ourselves and others how to love the real Israel and not conflate the State of Israel with the government of Israel or confuse criticism of one with criticism of the the other. The best way to advocate for continued security assistance to Israel is to remind people that Israel's security needs remain real and legitimate regardless of the outcome of any particular election.
Trying to shut down criticism of Israel's policies, labeling those who want to reexamine U.S. policy toward Israel as anti-Israel or antisemitic instead of discussing their concerns on the merits, is counterproductive and regardless of motive, will not help build support for Israel.
In a separate article, Michael Koplow explains why "the days of business as usual when discussing Israeli democracy, and shared values, are over." The sooner groups that purport to support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship understand that, the better. Tom Friedman has more on Israel's election.
On the other hand, depending on the results of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, we may discover that the U.S. and Israel share more values than we might care to admit. That's up to us.
Last Week's Newsletter.
ICYMI. Pro-Israel or Pro-Bibi? Nearly six years later, we're still asking.
Tweets of the Week. Betty Bowers and Steve Sheffey (don't just like them--retweet them!).
Twitter Thread of the Week. Brynn Tannehill.
Fox News Clip of the Week. We're Naming Names.
Website of the Week. Kari Lake 2022.
Video Clip of the Week. New ride-sharing app for women impregnated by Herschel Walker.
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