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October 6, 2024
Five Key Takeaways:
1) It's been 366 days, and tomorrow marks one year 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) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have provided Israel unprecedented military aid and support since October 7, more than any previous administration. Donald Trump has attacked Israel's leaders and treated the plight of the hostages callously--when he's mentioned them at all. JD Vance twice voted against the emergency aid package to Israel, including on final passage. Unlike Harris, Trump does not connect emotionally with Israel and the hostages. We cannot trust Trump to support Israel if he wins in November.
4) The Biden-Harris administration again defended Israel from Iranian missiles last week and again--unlike any previous administration--used U.S. forces to directly defend Israel. Trump repeatedly demonstrated fecklessness and weakness toward Iran during his presidency.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
One year ago tomorrow was Simchat Torah. We never expected the horrors that unfolded on October 7, horrors that we continue to live through every day the hostages remain in Gaza.
Imagine what the hostages have been going through for a year in those tunnels. Imagine what their families have been going through for the past year, not knowing if their loved ones are dead or alive and left to wonder what condition they are in. Every day is October 7 until all hostages are released.
There is right and wrong in the world, good and evil. Not everything is nuanced. Hamas is evil. Those who celebrate Hamas are wrong. Hezbollah is evil. Those who celebrate Hezbollah are wrong. Those who cheer what happened on October 7 are depraved.
No country, certainly not ours, would tolerate cross-border raids resulting in thousands of casualties and hundreds of abductions, replete with sexual abuse and torture. No country, certainly not ours, would tolerate thousands of missile attacks.
After October 7, we learned who our friends are. We learned who we can trust and who we cannot trust.
We don't have to read tea leaves or vet advisors, real or imagined, to know that the Biden-Harris administration stood with us in word and deed. Donald Trump did not. Tomorrow we will be mourning and praying. In 30 days, in some cases sooner, we will vote. Remember when you vote that, as Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) often says, "a vote is a kind of prayer for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and for our children."
As you read this newsletter, as you recall what Biden and Harris did and said and what Trump did and said after October 7 and with regard to Iran, ask yourself what world you desire for yourself and your children: a world where Harris is president or a world where Trump is president. If you want to support Israel and stop Iran, a world where Kamala Harris is president is the clear choice.
Start by watching Kamala Harris in her own words. I wish I could show you a similar reel of Donald Trump exhibiting the same moral clarity but no such reel exists.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris--in stark contrast to Donald Trump--have demonstrated unwavering support for Israel from October 7 onward. President Biden said on October 7, "The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel. Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people...My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering." Biden and Vice President Harris reiterated these points on October 8 in calls with Netanyahu and Israeli President Herzog.
Less than two weeks after October 7, Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Israel during a war and delivered a speech in Israel that cannot be summarized--you have to read it. His condemnation of Hamas and his support for Israel was unequivocal. Upon his return to the U.S., speaking from the Oval Office, Biden said to America what he said to Israel.
When Biden was in Israel he said, "For decades, we’ve ensured Israel’s qualitative military edge. And later this week, I’m going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense."
Two days later, on October 20, Biden sent Congress a request for an unprecedented $14.3 billion emergency aid package for Israel.
Republicans blocked this vital emergency aid to Israel for six months. Vance voted against the package that included $14 billion in emergency aid to Israel twice, on February 13 when it could have passed and on April 23 on final passage. In the meantime, the Biden-Harris administration approved over 100 arms sales to Israel.
The weapons Israel is using to defend itself and to go on offense in Gaza (including in Rafah) and Lebanon were supplied by the Biden-Harris administration. Israel is using them without objection or prevention by the administration. The missile defense appropriations that JD Vance twice voted against went to exactly the kind of weapons Israel and the U.S. used to defeat the Iranian attack.
Trump has repeatedly disrespected Israel and the hostages since October 7. On October 11, four days after Hamas's horrific attack, while Biden and Harris were supporting Israel, Trump attacked Israel and its leaders. When Biden and Harris talk about the “hostages” they are working to bring home, they are talking about the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
When Trump talks about “the hostages” who are treated “horrifically,” he’s talking about January 6 insurrectionists held in U.S. prisons who he plans to pardon. Trump has shown no sympathy–only callousness–for the hostages. Trump conducted an entire interview with Israel Hayom on March 25 without once mentioning the hostages.
After Hamas murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, President Biden and Vice President Harris issued statements on August 31 that reflected our support for Israel and our shared values. Their statements contained no partisanship.
Trump issued a political rant about the hostages on September 1. On September 5, speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition (a group you’d think might care), Trump could not even get Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s name right.
Trump did not speak to Netanyahu for three years because Trump was upset that Netanyahu congratulated President Biden on winning the election. How can anyone trust this petty narcissist to be there for Israel?
Some Democrats--and JD Vance--chose not to attend Netanyahu's July 24 speech to Congress and our Republican friends feigned outrage (at the Democrats, not at Vance, even though Harris, not Vance, met with Netanyahu at the White Housethe following day).
But if you want to see disrespect toward Netanyahu, watch Trump attack Netanyahu. Imagine what our Republican friends would say if a Democrat said what Trump said. Talk about daylight...
Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton said, "Trump’s support for Israel in the first term is not guaranteed in the second term, because Trump’s positions are made on the basis of what’s good for Donald Trump, not on some coherent theory of national security.” I understand why your Republican friends might not take my word for it. But if they won't even listen to John Bolton, give them some sugar for their Kool-Aid and spend your time talking with people who have not taken leave of their senses.
The Biden-Harris administration again defended Israel from an Iranian missile attack. Compare Kamala Harris's response to Iran's missile attack last week to Donald Trump's. I suppose Trump deserves recognition for issuing a five-paragraph statement that only mentions Israel in the headline, a feat on par with those books written without the letter "e." It's not that easy. But Trump managed to do it and proved again that he has neither the demeanor nor competence to serve as president.
At least Trump said something about the missile attack, no matter how deranged. Trump had nothing to say after Israel eliminated Hassan Nasrallah. Harris issued a statement on September 28, the day after Nasrallah's death.
Last week was the second time the Biden-Harris administration used U.S. forces to directly defend Israel from attack. The only previous time any administration has used U.S. troops to directly defend Israel from attack was when the Biden-Harris administration defended Israel from Iran's April 13 ballistic missile attack.
Both Iranian attacks could have resulted in more casualties and destruction than October 7. But April 13 and October 1 will not be dates etched in our memories forever because the Biden-Harris administration defended Israel, directly and through successful diplomatic efforts to put together an allied coalition, and the administration was successful.
All of this stands in sharp contrast to Trump's fecklessness and weakness in the face of Iranian aggression during his presidency. The Democratic platform outlines Trump's failures to stand up to Iran: In 2018, when Iranian-backed militias repeatedly attacked the U.S. consulate in Basra, Iraq, Trump’s only response was to close our diplomatic facility. In June 2019, when Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance aircraft operating in international airspace above the Straits of Hormuz, Trump responded by tweet and then abruptly called off any actual retaliation, causing confusion and concern among his national security team.
In September 2019, when Iranian-backed groups threatened global energy markets by attacking Saudi oil infrastructure, Trump failed to respond against Iran or its proxies. In January 2020, when Iran, for the first and only time in its history, directly launched ballistic missiles against U.S. troops in western Iraq, Trump mocked the resulting Traumatic Brain Injuries suffered by dozens of American servicemembers as mere “headaches” – and again, took no action. Trump repeated this nonsense last week. Trump's former defense secretary said last week that Trump's statement was "obviously not accurate."
Trump pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to constrain Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. Iran was abiding by the agreement not to expand its nuclear capacity until Trump’s costly mistake. Since then, as a result, Iran has gone from being more than a year away from being able to produce enough weapons-grade material for a bomb to a matter of weeks, should it choose to do so. No wonder the Republican platform does not mention Iran at all.
On September 5, 2024, Trump suggested that he’d lift sanctions on Iran. He added that he wants “to use sanctions as little as possible.” Trump’s incoherence allows him and his supporters to backtrack and explain away anything he says, so watch for yourself.
Trump has proven he cannot handle Iran. Project Shomer has more on Trump's Iran failures. Why give Trump a second chance?
Your key resources for the next 30 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.
Fact sheet from the Harris campaign geared toward Jewish voters.
Trump was not good on Israel.
91 people who know Trump well have raised alarms about his character and fitness for office.
JDCA's Key Facts on Harris, Walz, Trump, Vance, and Project 2025. Where Kamala Harris stands on Israel, antisemitism, and Hamas in 30 seconds.
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 substantive errors in last week's newsletter. There was a typo that did not change the meaning.
Four Items You May Have Missed:
1) Did you discuss politics during Rosh HaShanah? Any unresolved issues? If so, Project Shomer probably has you covered.
2) Doug Kahn took Kamala Harris on her first trip to Israel--in 2004. If you doubt that her support for Israel comes from the kishkes, read his article. In a similar vein, read this from Anita Friedman, who has known Harris for three decades.
3) Isaac Chotiner interviewed Andrew Miller on how the U.S.-Israel relationship actually works. (Now might be a good time to re-read Miller's 2019 article explaining that while Trump’s policies have been popular in Israel, his record is far less “pro-Israel” than it appears on the surface.)
4) Last week, the administration imposed additional sanctions against the Houthis and separately, against Hilltop Youth (a violent settler extremist group).
Tweet of the Week. Alex Edelman.
Twitter Thread of the Week. James Connor summarizes Jack Smith's filing on Trump’s private criminal efforts to stay in power despite knowing that he’d lost the election.
Video Clip of the Week. Bruce Springsteen's endorsement of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
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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