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September 22, 2024
Eight Key Takeaways:
1) It's been 352 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 240 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 Thursday, Donald Trump continued his "blame the Jews" tour, threatening our safety by stating that it would be our fault if he lost the election. Not one Republican member of Congress condemned his comments, which were antisemitic even under the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
4) In the past year, Jewish Insider has become the Jewish version of Fox News. It's great for birthdays but it is not a reliable source of information.
5) House Republicans played politics with Israel's security by unanimously supporting a bill that would require goods made in the West Bank and Gaza to be falsely labeled as made in Israel. The Senate will not pass it.
6) Republicans feigned outrage over Kamala Harris answering a question about whether she supports the administration's arms policies toward Israel by replying that yes, she does. Who knew?
7) Republicans demanding that the administration designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization will be relieved to know that the Biden-Harris administration designated the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group--in January.
8) Plus a collection of key resources that you can use between now and Election Day.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
You're welcome to read for free, but if you get something out of this newsletter, you can give something back by credit card or PayPal, by Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (last four phone digits are 9479), or by check. Thank you.
Hi Steve,
Donald Trump handed supporters of the IHRA definition of antisemitism a chance to prove its usefulness on a golden platter. So where were the condemnations clearly labeling Trump's remarks as antisemitic from those who claim the IHRA definition is the gold standard?
According to the IHRA definition, "antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for 'why things go wrong.”'
On Thursday, Trump said that Jewish people ought to have their heads examined and that if he doesn't win, "the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that." Read the transcript of the relevant portion.
That's antisemitism by any definition, including definitions better than IHRA, such as Nexus. Trump's threats include you too, my Republican Jewish friends. Trump is targeting "the Jewish people," not only those of us who need our heads examined. Watch Halie Soifer's 90-second explainer. Sami Sage takes a deeper dive.
The White House condemned Trump's remarks.
We saw on January 6, 2021, how violent Trump supporters are, especially after he loses. Jamelle Bouie writes that "Trump is infamous, going back to his first campaign for president, for condoning, encouraging and even inciting violence among his supporters."
Trump directly threatened our safety and security by blaming us for his eventual loss. Kamala Harris will win upwards of 70% of the Jewish vote but we are about 2.4% of the American population. The election will be close, and we will be among many constituencies making the difference for Harris. Singling out Jews for a decision that will be made democratically by all the American people is antisemitic.
In response to Trump's comments, six Democratic members of Congress issued a statement that sums up Trump's antisemitism, concluding that "when he loses this election, Trump will have nobody to blame but himself and his extremist allies who are deeply out of step with the Jewish community and all Americans."
Trump also said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who wears his Judaism on his sleeve and is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history, is a Palestinian and "is Hamas all the way."
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs said that Trump's normalization of antisemitic extremism "needs to stop, and anyone who cares about Jewish safety should call it out. This is not partisan politics — it’s about the fundamental safety of the Jewish community.”
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove wrote that Trump is trafficking in the most base form of antisemitism" and that what Trump said last week "is beyond dog-whistle. It is a form of preemptive scapegoating aimed to scare Jews into voting for Trump. ... It is abhorrent, it has no place in our national discourse, and it must receive blanket condemnation from every person of conscience."
Rob Eshman asks, "Did someone tell former President Donald Trump that the whole point of an antisemitism conference is to reduce antisemitism? Bess Kalb has more on Trump's blame-the-Jews tour.
You would have a different picture if you relied on Jewish Insider's coverage of Trump's remarks on Friday morning. JI has the look and feel of Politico and Axios but it's really a Jewish version of Fox News. You wouldn't know the substance of Ken Stern's testimony at the antisemitism hearing on September 17 from JI's coverage of the hearing. You wouldn't know if you read JI on Friday morning that Tim Walz met on Thursday with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
If you read JI's Daily Kickoff on Friday morning, you would have read Trump's remarks characterized not as antisemitic but as "partisan." You would not know what Trump said about Schumer. Reputable news outlets focused on the antisemitism but JI's Daily Kickoff buried Trump's blaming Jews if he loses the election in the middle of its report, devoting one sentence to it. On the other hand, JI made sure you knew that the right-wing crowd JI characterized as "pro-Israel" gave Trump plenty of applause.
JI whitewashed and normalized Trump's antisemitic speeches. Credible sources made it the focus of their coverage. More and more, JI reads like a Republican Jewish Coalition press release than anything resembling the reliable source of information that it pretends to be.
JI does just enough legitimate journalism to give itself credibility but too much of their coverage in the past year has been misleading and biased toward Trump and the GOP, through slanted reporting, omission, or both sidesing. I'm not telling you to stop reading Jewish Insider. They do a great job reporting birthdays.
But if you want news about the Jewish political world, turn to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Haaretz, and The Forward. If you want analysis, that's what I'm here for. If I'm not writing about what you're interested in, let me know.
Republicans played politics with Israel's security again. Last week, Republicans unanimously voted for the bill I described in detail last week that would require goods made in the West Bank or Gaza to be falsely labeled as made in Israel. This bill undermines a possible two-state solution and lends credence to the argument that Israel is an apartheid state: It conflates the West Bank, which does have separate legal systems for Jews and Palestinians, with Israel.
More than 90% of Democrats voted against it. Of the 27 Jewish members of Congress, 24 voted against it. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) explained in 90 seconds why every member of the House should have voted against this bill. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) issued a powerful statement "as a proud Zionist" on his vote against the bill, noting that "Republicans are once again attempting to exploit the war in Israel for political gain."
If you're a student of misinformation techniques last week was a good week. Our Republican friends demonstrated two time-honored tactics: taking statements out of context and recycling debunked claims after many people have forgotten the truth. Best of all, they combined both tactics, sort of the way Michael Jordan moved the ball from one hand to another while dunking. The difference is that Jordan scored.
On September 17, Vice President Kamala Harris was interviewed by the National Association of Black Journalists. Before we go further, watch the section of her interview on Israel. The relevant section comes right up at this link. It's only about six minutes. Listen to it at regular speed.
Pretty good, isn't it? Nothing newsworthy because she didn't say anything new. But our Republican friends feigned shock that she agreed with her own administration's decision to pause a non-critical arms shipment of large bombs back in May.
If you've forgotten, which is what the Republicans are counting on, back in May more than 1 million Palestinians were sheltering in Rafah, having been forced there by Israeli operations in Gaza during the previous seven months. The U.S. had been cautioning Israel not to launch a major offensive in Rafah without credible plans to avoid mass casualties. At that point, Israel had not presented such a plan.
The administration never opposed limited operations in Rafah, which Israel has conducted. Michael Koplow wrote in his analysis, Why Biden is Right, that "the impact of the delayed arms shipment is somewhere between negligible and non-existent when it comes to Israel’s ability to fight and defeat Hamas."
National Security Advisor John Kirby put it this way: Biden is "going to continue to provide Israel with the capabilities that it needs, but he does not want certain categories of American weapons used in a particular type of operation in a particular place." That's it. If you forgot about it, I don't blame you. It was never a big deal.
How about them Houthis? You wouldn't know it from the Republican talking points, but back in January the Biden-Harris administration designated the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group. Republicans want the Houthis to be designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which would add the risk of sanctions and criminal liability to humanitarian organizations providing lifesaving aid to Yemeni civilians in Houthi-controlled territories.
The Biden-Harris administration calibrated this exactly right. An FTO designation would not impose further sanctions on the Houthis but it would likely exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. For more information, read this September 17 State Department letter.
In addition to economic pressure, the Biden-Harris administration--unlike the Trump administration--has taken military action against the Houthis.
But why worry about nuance when you can make a cheap political point? I'll tell you why: because you've got nothing else if you're arguing that Trump/Vance would be better for our national security than Harris/Walz.
Your key resources for the next 44 days. Remind your Republican friends of where Trump and Vance stand on Israel and antisemitism. Ask them to compare the Democratic and Republican platforms on Israel and antisemitism. Ask them to compare the Democratic and Republican records on Israel and antisemitism.
They'll see that whatever complaint they have about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, real or imagined, true or not, pales in comparison. Ask them how, if they support Israel and oppose antisemitism, they could consider voting Republican in this election even if there is a scintilla of truth in the Instagram or TikTok post du jour.
If they ask what Harris and Walz have done for Israel and to fight antisemitism, share JDCA's Key Facts on Harris, Walz, Trump, Vance, and Project 2025. If they prefer videos, here's 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 errors in last Sunday's newsletter or my special report on Wednesday about the hearing on defining and fighting antisemitism so I guess both were perfect.
Two Items You May Have Missed:
1) A large list of Jewish communal leaders endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket.
2) Over 100 Republican national security leaders endorsed Harris. Their letter describes her qualifications and Trump's disqualifications. Previously, more than a dozen Republicans who served under President Reagan endorsed Harris, as well as 230 former Republican staffers in Republican administrations and presidential campaigns. Ask your Republican friends who can't bring themselves to vote for a Democrat just this once what they know that these Republican leaders don't know.
3) Tom Nichols argues that Scientific American should not have endorsed Kamala Harris.
4) Rep. Sean Casten's (D-IL) Republican opponent defended Trump and Vance for perpetuating debunked claims that immigrants are eating pets and wild animals. The Republican Party is a cult.
5) The Israeli public understands their security risks better than we do (true), so they know better than we do about whether Harris or Trump will be better for Israel (false). We don't live in Israel and they don't live here--we know Harris and Trump better than they do. Fania Oz-Salzberger describes "the rise of anti-Harris venom in Israeli social media and right-leaning press, directly following cues from the Trump campaign. While Biden was mocked as “sleepy” and “senile,” the younger, energetic Harris is dragged straight into the mud of racism and misogyny. She is constantly misrepresented as a protégé of Barack Obama and, as a Black woman, conflated with the Democrats’ anti-Israel 'Squad' by analysts who ought to know better."
Tweets of the Week. Joel Rubin and Daniel Miller.
Twitter Thread of the Week. David Frum.
Reaction of the Week. Doug Emhoff.
Video Clips of the Week. If you know any Jewish voters thinking of voting for Donald Trump, send them this short video from Halie Soifer.
If you know anyone unfamiliar with Project 2025, here's the simplest and best explanation of Project 2025 that I've seen.
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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