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Friends,

Yom Kippur starts tonight. If you're fasting, I hope you have an easy and meaningful fast. Judaism is a religion of action--consider during the fast how your vote reflects the values in your Mahzor and whether our current government is living up to those values. Next weekend is Sukkot, so look for the next newsletter Sunday night or Monday morning.

Trump won't commit to a peaceful transition of power, over 200,000 Americans have died in a pandemic that Trump could have alleviated but instead lied about and ignored, and Trump plans to stack the Supreme Court with another justice who will rubber-stamp his efforts to steal the election and rob Americans of their access to healthcare.

These attacks on the ideals and institutions which are the pride and glory of our country are unacceptable, as is Trump's weakening of Israel's security, which harms our most important ally in the Middle East. Biden is a strong friend of Israel and the Jewish community, so if Israel is your issue, you have another reason to support Biden.

Instead of talking about normalization of relations between Israel and a couple of Gulf states, we should be talking about Trump's normalization of anti-Semitism from the White House, his normalization of mass death in America, and his normalization of rampant corruption and lying.

We should take Isaiah's exhortation "to unlock the fetters of wickedness...to let the oppressed go free" as a call to action. If you're not sure who Isaiah would vote for, ask the children in cages or the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and too many others.

Do not, as Marc Elias writes, "shrink from uncomfortable conversations or ignore injustice because it isn’t our place, or someone will take offense. We must be willing to stand up for what is right to our friends, family, colleagues, customers and clients...We must fight for justice with the fierce urgency of now."

The Trump administration falsely claimed that it snapped back sanctions on Iran. Sanctions only work if the international community enforces them. Our European allies immediately stated that because "the U.S. ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal on 8 May, 2018...the U.S. attempt to initiate the ‘snapback mechanism’ is incapable of having any legal effect."

Pompeo's snapback announcement is meaningless because the international community will not enforce it. Giving the Trump administration credit for snapping back sanctions is like giving the Trump administration credit for stopping COVID by Easter. Saying it is so doesn't make it so.

The Washington Post notes that "the Trump administration has destroyed the international alliance that forced Tehran to limit activities that could have allowed it to build nuclear weapons [through] some of the most inept and self-defeating diplomacy in U.S. history." Even the UAE is enhancing, not limiting, its economic cooperation with Iran.

Paul Pillar writes that Trump's policies have "increased, not decreased, aggressive Iranian actions in the Middle East, including attacks on neighboring states’ oil facilities that Iran never had attempted before" and that "it was the Trump administration, not Iran, that violated the [JCPOA] and did so wholesale."

Sober reflections on the UAE/Bahrain accords. The obligatory "of course normalization is good" is the new "not that there's anything wrong with that." Yes, open relations between Israel and two Gulf states 1,800 miles away is good news. But as Ezzedine Fishere explains, these accords don't end any Middle East conflicts, they deepen conflicts that do exist, they erode prospects of a two-state solution, and they could further radicalize the Palestinians.

These outcomes are not inevitable, but they become more likely absent a foreign policy that addresses them and the erosion of Israel's qualitative military edge.

The accords do not require congressional support, but that won't stop pro-Israel organizations who ought to be focused on Israel's real threats--an Iran moving closer to nuclear weapons and a two-state solution moving further out of reach--from seeking an easy, self-serving political win by pushing a non-binding resolution in the name of bipartisanship.

Michael McFaul graded every aspect of Trump's foreign policy and gave Trump an F on Iran, a B on UAE/Bahrain, and an F on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Sounds about right.

More anti-Semitism from Donald Trump. The Washington Post reported that after phone calls with Jewish lawmakers, Trump has muttered that Jews “are only in it for themselves” and “stick together” in an ethnic allegiance that exceeds other loyalties. This anti-Semitism is consistent with Trump's public statements. Trump recently recycled his dual loyalty trope, telling Jewish American leaders on a Rosh HaShanah call that Israel was "your country."

Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes, including Jewish money in politics and other anti-Jewish stereotypes. In October 2018, Trump promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter. Trump accused Jews of dual loyalty at the 2018 White House Hanukkah Party and in April 2019 in Las Vegas. Trump said in August 2019 that American Jews who vote Democratic--that's about 80% of us--are either ignorant or "disloyal." When asked to clarify, he said he meant "disloyal to Israel." In December 2019 Trump again invoked anti-Semitic tropes about dual loyalty and Jewish avarice that Jewish groups denounced.

Donald Trump is a super-spreader of anti-Semitism.

Instead of condemning Trump for his anti-Semitism, House Republicans use procedural votes to play games with anti-Semitism. In February 2019, House Republicans tried to embarrass Democrats into voting against a motion on anti-Semitism and then embarrassed themselves by voting against final passage of their own amendment.

Last week, they did it again. Republicans introduced a motion to recommit to attach anti-Semitism language to the proposed Equity and Exclusion Enforcement Act even though Trump's Executive Order reiterated that Title VI covers anti-Semitism as discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. This motion changed nothing. The majority party nearly always votes down motions to recommit by overwhelming margins on principle because they can gum up legislation in many ways. Knowing that, the minority party uses them to provide fodder for misleading articles written for audiences that, understandably, don't know the difference between motions to recommit and votes for final passage of the bill.

In this case, the Equity and Exclusion Act was on the floor. Republicans moved to add unnecessary language on anti-Semitism. Most Democrats voted against including the unnecessary language, but thanks to a combination of Republican and Democratic votes, the motion passed. The misrepresentations floating around imply that was the end of the story.

But next, the bill itself, as amended, was voted on--the vote on final passage. Every Democrat voted in favor of the bill containing the anti-Semitism language and all but three Republicans voted no--98% of Republicans voted against the bill they amended to explicitly (albeit unnecessarily) reference anti-Semitism. Why did 188 Republicans vote against a bill opposing anti-Semitism that included their amendment? Because it was never about anti-Semitism for them.

On Thursday, Jewish members of Congress urged House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to stop using motions to recommit and other maneuvers to exploit anti-Semitism for partisan gain, explaining that "Jews are not a political football, and to treat Jews as such devalues Jewish lives and makes it more difficult to fight the dangerous and deadly trends of growing anti-Semitism."

Last week's newsletter.

ICYMI. Trump, Republicans are fooling you about Democrats and Israel.

Tweets of the Week. Schooley and mrotzie.

Video Clip of the Week. Send in the Clowns.

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The Fine Print: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more. Intelligent, well-informed people may disagree with me; read opposing views and decide for yourself. A link to an article doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. I take pride in accurately reporting the facts on which I base my opinions. Tell me if you spot any inaccuracies, typos, or other mistakes so that I can correct them in the next newsletter (and give you credit if you want it). Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links. © 2020 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.