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October 13, 2024
Five Key Takeaways:
1) It's been 373 days since October 7, 2023, when, on Simchat Torah, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel 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 unspeakable, undeniable sexual violence; 101 hostages, many dead, some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza today.
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) On October 7, 2024, Kamala Harris and leading Democrats reaffirmed their commitment to Israel and to freeing the hostages. On the same day, Donald Trump engaged in antisemitic and Nazi rhetoric, victim-blaming, and narcissism, proving again his unfitness for office.
4) Iran cannot use the $6 billion in sanctions waivers that secured the release of American hostages for its malign activities. As hard as it is for our Republican friends to understand this basic concept, the money is not fungible. Trump let Iran walk all over us and now wants to lift sanctions on Iran. Harris is committed to ensuring Iran never gets nuclear weapons and reiterated that all options are on the table.
5) New polling of Jewish voters in battleground states shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in a direct matchup 71% to 26%. The same percentage of Jewish voters plan to vote Democratic for Congress. According to Trump, a lot of Jews need their heads examined.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump showed us all we need to know on October 7, 2024. One year after that terrible day, a day we will never forget and that will be remembered in our prayers forever, a day that will not end until all the hostages are home, the Jewish community learned who stands with us and who stands against us--or in one case, with himself.
The morning of October 7, Harris said, "I will do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas. I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including the seven American citizens, living and deceased, still held: Omer, Edan, Sagui, Keith, Judy, Gad, and Itay. I will never stop fighting for justice for those who murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other Americans. And I will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists like Hamas. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering."
The afternoon of October 7, Harris and Doug Emhoff planted a tree on the grounds of the Residence of the Vice President of the United States and dedicated it "to the 1,200 innocent souls, in an act of pure evil on October 7, 2023, who were massacred by Hamas terrorists." Read her thoughtful remarks.
On October 7, Trump engaged in antisemitic and Nazi rhetoric and then claimed that “Israel has to do one thing, they have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. It’s not reciprocal.”
Andrew Miller called out Trump's "vile trifecta" of antisemitism, victim blaming, and narcissism. Speaking of narcissism: Trump asked the rabbi at the memorial service if he wanted Trump to sign the siddur. Trump smiled while holding a hostage poster. Want more narcissism? Read his statement. Different from Harris's, isn't it?
Also on October 7 (he had a busy day), Trump lied about visiting Gaza. He never visited Gaza. A campaign aide tried to cover for Trump by saying that Trump did not lie because Trump visited Israel and Gaza is in Israel. But Gaza is not in Israel.
If you have any doubts or questions about where Kamala Harris stands on Israel, Iran, or antisemitism--including on college campuses--read the transcript of her call with Jewish voters on October 11.
Remember when Republicans were asking what would happen if Biden was having a bad day when a crisis occurred? Watch this clip and this clip from Harris's 60 Minutes interview (Trump backed out of the interview). Watch this clip from Donald Trump. Who would you want in this situation room if Israel's safety was on the line?
Iran cannot use the $6 billion in sanctions waivers that secured the release of American hostages for its malign activities. If we were sending billions of dollars to Iran I’d be furious. But contrary to false claims from our Republican friends, that’s not what we’re doing.
The money can only be used for humanitarian purposes. The money is not fungible. Some people find this concept counterintuitive. I explained it, step by step, here.
The mechanism that prevents Iran from getting the money is one of the few Trump-era policies that made sense, which is why the administration left it in place. But if your friends don't want to read in detail, ask them to watch these short videos from Ben Sheehan and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO).
If you're terrified by the prospect of Iran getting more money--I know I am--you should be terrified that Trump now wants to lift sanctions on Iran. The Biden-Harris administration has not lifted any sanctions on Iran, has imposed 700 additional sanctions since Trump left office, and on Friday announced further sanctions targeting Iran's energy trade.
In her October 11 call with Jewish voters, Harris identified Iran as the common thread linking Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. She said, "When Donald Trump was president, he let Iran off the hook. After Iran and its proxies attacked U.S. bases and American troops, Trump did nothing. And he pulled out of the nuclear deal without any plan, leading to an unconstrained Iranian nuclear program.
"On the other hand, our administration struck Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria when they attacked American troops, and we are the first administration to ever directly defend Israel.
"On April 13, I joined President Biden and our national security team for more than five hours as we and a coalition of nations that we brought together responded to Iran’s unprecedented attack. And then, of course, last week, on October 1st, I was in the Situation Room for more than three hours coordinating in real time with our military leadership as our forces intercept milsi- — missiles over the skies of Israel.
"Make no mistake, as president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
"Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end, but all options are on the table."
Former Florida congressmen Robert Wexler and Ron Klein were two of the most pro-Israel members of Congress on either side of the aisle when they served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In an op-ed posted on Friday, they urged voters to choose U.S. strength over weakness on Iran. If you are worried about Iran (as you should be), urge your undecided friends to read this op-ed before they vote.
New polling shows strong Jewish support for Harris in the seven battleground states. In a head-to-head matchup, Harris leads Trump 71% to 26%. The poll also found that 71% of Jewish voters plan to vote for Democrats running for Congress. No ticket splitting for us--Republicans are the problem; Trump is the symptom.
An Orthodox Union poll showed different results but as Ron Kampeas explains, the Orthodox Union poll was not weighted by denomination. Denomination is a key determinant of voting behavior within the Jewish community. Any poll that does not appropriately weight Jewish respondents by denomination (including no denomination), age, and gender is not a methodologically sound poll.
Trump has repeatedly said that any Jew who votes for a Democrat should have their "head examined." That's a lot of head examinations for a lot of Jews. But in this 30-second clip, JDCA did just that.
Your key resources for the next 23 days: Your Republican friends need to know the facts, including Trump's record on Israel (the non-fiction version).
Compare the Democratic and Republican platforms on Israel and antisemitism.
Compare the Democratic and Republican records on Israel and antisemitism.
Harris’s record of fighting antisemitism, including on college campuses.
Fact sheet from the Harris campaign geared toward Jewish voters.
JDCA's Key Facts on Harris, Walz, Trump, Vance, and Project 2025.
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. No one pointed out any errors in last week's newsletter, so I guess it was perfect.
In Case You Missed It:
1) Statements on October 7 from President Biden, Tim Walz, Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin, UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
2) Remarks from President Biden during a call with Jewish faith leaders for the High Holidays.
3) A new report indicates that the $17.9 billion spent by the Biden-Harris administration since Oct. 7, 2023, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is by far the most military aid sent to Israel in one year.
4) Israeli-American Haim Saban explains why he is voting for Kamala Harris and how Trump is undermining the longstanding, bipartisan commitment to Israel that has been so vital to the U.S.-Israel relationship.
5) Ambassador Alfred Moses led the effort to outlaw the Arab Boycott of Israel, free Jews in Communist Europe, and was president of the American Jewish Committee. Read his endorsement of Kamala Harris.
6) Trump's foreign policy blunders.
7) Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove on keeping the flame of hope alive and this interview about Israel and Zionism with Yuval Noah Harari.
8) Two-star reviews are the best reviews and the secret to finding good coffee shops.
Tweet of the Week. Paul Watson.
Twitter Thread of the Week. Dov Waxman.
Video Clip of the Week. Do you need a laugh? Watch Norm Macdonald's impression of David Letterman over and over. It just gets funnier.
For those new to this newsletter. 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.
I periodically update my posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism and on the IHRA definition of antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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