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May 24, 2026
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Serious matters deserve serious reflection. New rule: Stop getting your information from videos, especially those made by non-experts. We can have more informed discussions if we base our opinions on what we've read rather than what we've watched.
- Conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism makes it harder to fight antisemitism and makes us less effective advocates for Israel, but it's appealing because for many of us, using antisemitism as an excuse not to deal with the substance of the criticism is easier than facing the issues directly.
- Criticizing Israel but not other countries is not antisemitic. If you think it is, try holding yourself to the same standard when you criticize countries that are enemies of Israel.
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) did not lose his primary because Republicans rejected antisemitism. He lost because he crossed Donald Trump.
- Republican dark money is reportedly bankrolling an antisemitic Democratic primary candidate's campaign in Texas. Where is the outrage from Republicans who claim to be outraged by Massie's antisemitism?
- The Jewish Voters Resource Center released a poll showing overwhelming Jewish support for Democrats in the November midterms and strong disapproval of Trump and his policies. The only problem Democrats have with Jewish voters is that there are not enough of us.
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Friends,
Have you seen the Bill Maher video that's going around? If you haven't, you're living right. You've saved eight minutes of your life, and the social media algorithm knows that you're not interested in slop.
The only reason to watch it is that it illustrates why I recommend that we get our information from reading qualified sources, not watching videos from smooth-talking celebrities. I'll spare you the video because Maher is not the point of today's newsletter. What follows will make sense regardless of whether you've seen it.
Videos are great for emotional manipulation. The speaker is usually polished, telegenic, and articulate. Right off the bat, we are inclined to buy what they are selling.
Reading allows us to easily go back, re-read, pause, and think. The video rolls along, and while it's easy to discuss with others what we and they read, it's harder to have an intelligent conversation about a video because we can't remember exactly what they said, we can't parse the illogic or inconsistencies, and all we remember is the gist of the message, if that.
Often, videos feature non-experts, such as TV or movie personalities, cookbook authors, reality TV stars, sports stars, comedians, and other well-known, likeable faces who have no relevant qualifications or experience other than a knack for telling us what we want to hear.
Somehow, in this cynical age, we trust them more than we trust the experts. We think that, unlike the experts, these influencers don't have a stake in making us believe something. We see the lack of expertise as a feature, not a bug. We crave certainty and reassurance that what we want to be true must be true. It comes from the heart, or so we think, and it sounds more authentic than someone who goes into nuance and knows what they are talking about.
Maher's video repeatedly conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. We're tired of criticism of Israel. We want to wish it away. It's emotionally draining, especially when it challenges our core beliefs. But if it's antisemitism? Poof! We can close our eyes, condemn it as antisemitism, and move on. That's the idea, folks.
Inexplicably, Maher minimizes the extent of Republican Randy Fine's remarks. Why? Who knows. Maybe a nod to his real base these days.
Accusing critics of Israel of double standards works the same way. Instead of addressing the issues, we say, "But what about Sudan? What about China?" If you don't understand how absurd that is, think of what you used to say to your kids when you caught them doing something wrong and they responded, "but everyone was doing it, and Johnny was doing it more than I was." Did you say, "Good point! Never mind." I'm guessing not.
Pointing to others when we are accused is classic rationalization, minimization, and avoidance. We do it to feel better about ourselves and escape feelings of guilt and shame.
Dismissing criticism of Israel as antisemitism or deflecting by claiming double standards hurts our ability to fight real antisemitism and tells the rest of the world that we no longer hold Israel to the standard it set for itself in its Declaration of Independence but to the standards we expect from Sudan, China, and other authoritarian governments.
The irony is that it is impossible to discuss the merits of Maher's video in further detail precisely because it's a video rather than an article we can go back to and read. That, my friends, is the point. It's an unserious video for people who don't want to be challenged and want emotional reassurance from someone famous.
Maher's video itself is not worthy of this much space. I cite it only as an example of the videos and reels that circulate in our community. I don't know how people find the time to watch them, although to be fair, maybe I'd have more time to watch them if I didn't read books.
What about double standards? Imagine if, when we were marching for Soviet Jewry, someone had criticized us for not marching for people who were even more oppressed, or for not protesting against countries that treated their citizens worse than the Soviets treated theirs. Were we guilty of double standards? Is any critic of any country required to find the worst country on earth and criticize that country first?
Of course not. We had every right to focus on the Soviet Union’s treatment of Jews. Can we blame Palestinians for focusing on Israel? Is it per se antisemitic for non-Palestinians to focus on Israel? Rabbi Jill Jacobs wrote that "Human rights activists and organizations almost always choose a focus for their efforts. (One may reasonably work to end the genocide of the Rohingya community in Burma, for instance, without simultaneously addressing Assad’s slaughter of his people in Syria.)”
Jacobs explains that it might be reasonable to conclude in some cases that Israel attracts disproportionate attention not because of antisemitism, but because it is a top recipient of U.S. foreign aid. It is the only Western democracy “currently carrying out a military occupation of another people. Its territory is sacred to three major world religions. The existence of a strong U.S.-based lobby dedicated to promoting the policies of the Israeli government unsurprisingly generates a counterresponse. And Palestinians have built a national movement over the past five decades, unlike more recently displaced people.”
Social media is filled with memes attacking critics of Israel for not talking about the situations in China, Russia, Sudan, and Venezuela. Imagine if, on October 8, 2023, we had been accused of double standards for focusing on 1,200 murdered and 251 kidnapped, along with sexual violence, instead of atrocities in China, Russia, Sudan, and Venezuela. I wonder how many people posting those memes have ever spoken about human rights abuses in other countries other than when using those countries as props to deflect from criticism of Israel. I wonder how many people posting those memes read Nicholas Kristof when he's not writing about Israel; he reports extensively on human rights violations in other countries.
Israel holds itself to a higher standard, the standard of a Western democracy, not the standards of China, Russia, Sudan, or Venezuela, or its Arab neighbors. Yet even if they are not antisemitic, the double standards to which Israel is held sometimes cross the line into callous and offensive. When that happens, we should point it out. We should not call it antisemitism unless it involves antisemitic tropes, and not listing abuses in other countries is not antisemitism.
My advice for pro-Israel advocacy: Don't respond to criticism of Israel by accusing your interlocutor of antisemitism for holding Israel to a double standard. Do you really think that's persuasive? Do you hold yourself to the same test when you criticize countries that are antagonistic toward Israel but not other countries? (How concerned are you with North Korea's nuclear program?) Instead, either refute the criticism or admit its validity and move on to how to solve it.
The Nexus Document describes when criticism of Israel and Zionism is and is not antisemitic. I previously explained how "genocide" and "Zionism" can be defined. While we're at it, the term "blood libel" has a specific meaning. Don't distort it, and don't distort history, to suit your political agenda.
If, after all this, you want to subject yourself to Maher's video, have at it.
N.B. Videos made by experts are better but still inferior to written content for many of the same reasons. Same with podcasts, except for the telegenicity factor. Reading is good for you. You've read this far, haven't you?
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 newsletter, I incorrectly stated that the Presidential Prayer Team was run by the Trump administration. While the team does promote certain Trump prayer initiatives, it is an independent non-profit that has existed since 2001.
In Case You Missed It:
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is anti-Israel and antisemitic. That's not why Republicans turned on him in last week's primary. He lost because he "violated the one real rule of the MAGA Republican Party: Never cross the boss."
- What better way for Republicans to claim that Democrats have an antisemitism problem than to help an antisemitic Democrat win a primary? What better way to win a general election than by helping an out of touch Democrat win her primary? Republicans are flooding Texas's 35th congressional district with dark money in support of Maureen Galindo. Democrats are supporting Johnny Garcia. The Republicans who condemned Massie for antisemitism are silent about GOP money coming in for Galindo, who is worse than Massie. All the Democratic members of Congress spoke out, as well as DNC Chair Ken Martin and Democratic leadership.
- Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Jewish American Security Act, a comprehensive bill to strengthen federal efforts to fight antisemitism. Nexus issued a statement supporting it. A large swath of Jewish organizations support it, and it should pass with broad bipartisan backing, in part because shortly before it was introduced, language encouraging enforcement of an Executive Order that included the IHRA definition of antisemitism was removed. The IHRA definition is toxic for many Democrats and Republicans, albeit for different reasons.
- Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, called J Street a "cancer within the Jewish community," but as Joshua Leifer explains, it is "not J Street or its supporters who are out of touch with most American Jews," but the pro-settler right that Leiter represents. Nadav Tamir writes that "Leiter represents everything that is wrong with Israeli diplomacy under Netanyahu. A product of the far-right, Leiter does not truly represent his country but instead an extremist view." Leiter's recent remarks are unacceptable. I joined more than 600 Jewish American communal leaders calling on Leiter to retract his remarks and issue a public apology. As Dan Shapiro said, "I agree with J Street on various things, and disagree on others. But I have no doubt of their commitment to Israel’s security, strong U.S.-Israel relations, and peace between Israel and its neighbors."
- The Jewish Voters Resource Center released a poll showing that Jewish voters will overwhelmingly (67%) vote for Democrats in the midterm elections and view Trump unfavorably (73%). Vance fares worse (79%) and Rubio is at 67% unfavorable, pretty good for a Republican. Most Jewish voters think Trump is antisemitic (52%) and racist (68%). The only problem Democrats have with Jewish voters is that there are not enough of us.
- You can't make this up: The U.S. and Israel had a plan for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to take over Iran but an Israeli strike on his house designed to free him from house arrest injured him. Christiane Amanpour and Ilan Goldbenberg summed up the absurdity.
- Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) died last week. May his memory be a blessing.
Jewish Insider Fail of the Week. Jewish Insider did not cover or even mention the House Democratic Caucus and Congressional Jewish Caucus Jewish American Heritage Month Reception held in the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. Luckily, I was there. This is the 21st JAHM, made possible because Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) passed legislation creating it during her first term in Congress.
The speakers, in addition to host Wasserman Schultz, were House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA), House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Jewish Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL).
These are tough times for Jewish Americans, and all the speakers touched on that, but as Aguilar reminded us, it's good every now and then to celebrate our progress and to know that we have allies. Aguilar will take over the role of accompanying freshman Democrats to Israel from Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who is retiring.
Spotted: Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Judy Chu (D-CA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL); William Daroff, Nathan Diament, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Aaron Keyak, Kevin Rachlin, Sheila Katz, Amy Spitalnick, Brian Remick, Joel Rubin, Aaron Weingerg, Jenn Miller, Jessica Bernton, and Gil Thompson.
Social Media of the Week. Michael Clemens, AOC, Jill Filipovic, and David Burge.
Video Clips of the Week. Barney brings down the gavel and Barney's lesson on how to handle town halls.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. I Melt With You.
The Fine Print. Read the fine print before you reply or send me anything.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, your luck continues. You can subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday for free. Just click here.
Be sure to read my posts on distinguishing anti-Zionism from antisemitism, understanding the words Zionism, apartheid, and genocide, how to heal the generational rift on Israel and antisemitism, and the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
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