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November 3, 2024
Five Key Takeaways:
1) It's been 394 days since October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel on Simchat Torah 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 sexual violence; 101 hostages, many dead, some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza.
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) We cannot expect an antisemite to fight antisemitism. We cannot expect someone who wants to lift sanctions on Iran and whose running mate ruled out war with Iran to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. We cannot expect someone who wants to turn foreign aid into loans and whose running mate twice voted against emergency aid to Israel to support Israel. Today's newsletter will help your undecided friends think about this.
4) If your undecided friends won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to the voices cited in today's newsletter, ranging from a Holocaust survivor to former top Trump aides to a hostage family member. Or maybe they'll remember that they only get to make this decision because we live in a democracy and they want to keep it that way.
5) At this point, the best way to persuade an undecided voter who cares about Israel and antisemitism to vote for Harris is to ask them to apply the same standards to Trump that they apply to Harris. If they do, they'll vote for Harris in a heartbeat.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
I've seen enough. Kamala Harris will win on Tuesday. She will win with upwards of 70% of the Jewish vote. Her volunteers' enthusiasm is amazing, and their enthusiasm will intensify between now and Election Day. You've either voted or know who you're voting for. But if you know anyone still undecided even after all you've tried, then try a different approach, especially with that sliver of undecided Jewish voters.
Donald Trump is a classic America First isolationist. Worse than that, he's Donald Trump first above all else. He's proven that he's willing to sell out Ukraine, abandon NATO, and lift sanctions on Iran. He's a convicted felon 34 times over (and counting). Ask your undecided friends why they think that on Israel alone, we can trust him, especially given his poor record on Israel. Ask your undecided friends if they know these eight facts.
If they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to Elizabeth Bellak, a 93-year old Holocaust survivor, especially after Donald Trump threatened (he was not joking) to put Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad. Ask your undecided friends to consider Cheney's response.
If they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to two Jewish Florida members of Congress, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz.
Maybe they'll listen to Jewish members of Congress Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Brad Schneider, Kathy Manning, and Greg Landsman.
Both articles contrast Harris to Trump on Israel and antisemitism, leading to the inescapable conclusion if those are your most important issues, the case for Kamala Harris is stronger than the case for Trump.
If they won't listen to Democrats, then maybe they'll listen to the Republican speakers at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, who unwittingly made the case against Trump better than any Democrat could. Read the facts about Trump's hate-filled rally. Then read Emily Tamkin's analysis.
Maybe they'll listen to former Trump advisors calling Trump a "liar," a "fascist," and "unfit." Or do your undecided friends know Trump better than they do? These warnings from former advisors to a presidential candidate are unprecedented in scope and volume.
Turns out that Republican Jewish Coalition Chair Norm Coleman was right all along when he wrote in March 2016 that he would never vote for Trump because Trump is ''a bigot, a misogynist, a fraud, and a bully."
Maybe they'll listen to JD Vance, who made clear last week his disagreements with pro-Israel Americans and his view that U.S. and Israeli interests can differ, including on Iran.
Yes, Steve, Vance's isolationism extends to public disagreements with Israel on existential concerns.
Kamala Harris says all options are on the table with Iran but Vance is ruling out U.S. military action because "it would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.” Are your friends who claim to be undecided because they are concerned about Israel cool with that? In the same interview, Vance accused pro-Israel Americans of being "militaristic."
Do they remember when Trump said that Iran can "do what they want" in Syria? Trump is now demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza before he takes office. Are your undecided friends okay with Trump telling Israel that it has to end the war on his political timeline, untethered to whether Israel has achieved its objectives?
Before your undecided friends answer, ask them to consider--honestly--how they'd feel if Kamala Harris said what Trump said or if Tim Walz said what Vance said. You know the answer. Help your undecided friends get to the answer. If your undecided friends apply the same standards to Trump that they apply to Harris, they'll vote for Harris in a heartbeat.
If Trump wins and finishes his term, he will become, at 82, the oldest person ever to serve as president. If he dies before his term ends, JD Vance, the guy who ruled out war with Iran will become president. Vance was among the relatively few Republicans who 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. Trump chose Vance as his running mate anyway. Trump signaled his opposition to the package by stating that we should stop providing foreign aid unless it is structured as a loan.
When prominent Republicans condemned Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in 2022 for speaking at a white nationalist conference, Vance defended her.
Ask your undecided friends who is less qualified to be president: Vance for defending Greene when even other Republicans condemned her or Trump for choosing Vance as his running mate given Trump's age and the likelihood that Vance will finish Trump's term. It's lose-lose either way.
If they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin's explain why we cannot trust Donald Trump with Israel's security.
When some Israelis tell you that they trust Trump, remember that they cannot possibly know Trump as well as we know him. But if you're undecided friends want an Israeli opinion, share Israeli Americans for Kamala's top ten pro-Israel reasons to vote Kamala.
Trump tried pandering to Jews and it didn't work, so now he's pandering to Arab-Americans (note to Trump: There is not peace in Lebanon because Hezbollah operates unimpeded from Lebanon). He campaigned in Dearborn, Michigan--nothing wrong with that but imagine if the shoe was on the other foot.
The Harris campaign runs ads with different focuses for different communities, which is what all campaigns do. The Harris ads do not contradict each other. Trump lies to both sides and makes contradictory promises he can’t keep.
Finally, maybe they'll at least listen to Alana Zeitchik. Hamas took six of her family members hostage on October 7: Her video is less than 90 seconds.
Share the three reasons she supports Kamala Harris outlined in the powerful op-ed she published on October 30.
We don't have to compromise our values or our integrity in this election. Unlike Donald Trump, we can count on Kamala Harris to support Israel, oppose antisemitism, and fight for other policies consistent with our values.
This JDCA fact sheet compares Harris and Trump on Israel, Iran, and antisemitism.
Former Congressmen Robert Wexler and Ron Klein, pro-Israel stalwarts when they served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, explain that Harris is better than Trump on Iran.
Trump's entire Middle East policy was a failure. If anyone asks, "what about the Abraham Accords?" tell them to read Dalia Dassa Kaye's article.
The Democratic and Republican platforms on Israel and antisemitism prove that if you care about Israel and antisemitism, you're voting Democratic in 2024.
The record proves that Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. Still not sure? Learn Harris’s record of fighting antisemitism, including on college campuses.
Any last-minute questions? That's what I'm here for.
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. That makes one newsletter in a row with no mistakes.
In Case You Missed It:
1) Kamala Harris's closing argument and Doug Emhoff's closing argument.
2) Harris and Biden statements marking six years since the Tree of Life synagogue attack. If Trump issued a statement, I missed it.
3) Melanie Nathan: Jews for Trump fail "Never Again," as do those who refuse the Hitler comparison.
4) Deborah Harris and Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs: Stop the boycott of Israeli culture.
5) Former ADL chief Abe Foxman slammed the ADL for its muted response to Trump's Madison Square Garden rally.
6) A Texas federal court held that university speech restrictions based on the IHRA definition of antisemitism are likely unconstitutional. The court is likely correct. Relatedly, Alan Solomont writes that antisemitism must be called out wherever it appears but must not be confused with legitimate protest.
7) If you heard about the Republican House Education Committee's report on campus antisemitism, you owe it to yourself to read this response from the Nexus Project.
8) Be sure you and your friends stay up to date after Tuesday--which in many ways will be a new beginning. 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.
Tweet of the Week. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Video Clips of the Week. In memory of Terri Garr, this brilliant short video. And of course Kamala Harris on SNL last night.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter 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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