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November 9, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Last week was a great week for Democrats and our country.
- Republicans, aided and abetted, wittingly or unwittingly, by certain Jewish legacy organizations, including the ADL, continue to weaponize antisemitism.
- Mamdani pledged in his victory speech to fight antisemitism and condemned an act of antisemitism the next day. Reactions to his election by certain parts of the Jewish community are inappropriate and do not reflect the views of many Jewish voters.
- The most dangerous form of antisemitism is not left-wing or right-wing antisemitism, but government-sponsored or condoned antisemitism. In America, that means Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
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Greetings!
Democrats won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia by running pro-Israel moderates, Democrats won the mayoral race in New York City by running a socialist, Democrats won pivotal Supreme Court retention races in Pennsylvania, Democrats won a key redistricting referendum in California, and the Sandwich Guy was acquitted.
The reactions to the New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City races are what I predicted in last week's newsletter. I won't repeat them here. If you want more in that vein, David Rothkopf has more.
The lesson for Democrats is obvious. Affordability is the only universal message we need to win in 2026, and authenticity is the only trait we need in every candidate. Those are the common denominators among Abigail Spanberger (VA), Mike Sherrill (NJ), and Zohran Mamdani (NY). We should choose candidates who best fit their electorate and run them instead of searching for a message or position on the left/right spectrum that will work in every district or state.
Republicans, aided and abetted, wittingly or unwittingly, by certain Jewish legacy organizations continue to weaponize antisemitism. Fighting antisemitism in all forms from all sources is essential. Weaponizing antisemitism for political purposes makes it harder to fight antisemitism and plays into the hands of antisemites and those who seek to divide us.
No Republican member of Congress has yet condemned any of Donald Trump's antisemitism. Until they do, statements about antisemitism elsewhere ring hollow. The most dangerous form of antisemitism is not antisemitism from the right or the left. It is antisemitism condoned or promoted by the government, especially the federal government, especially a federal government run by a corrupt buffoon bent on authoritarianism and intent on enriching himself while a Congress and a Supreme Court that acts as if they've sworn an oath to him instead of our country look the other way.
Antisemitism is nothing new for the Republican Party, but too many of us have bought into the fiction that being "pro-Israel" (i.e., supporting whatever the government of Israel does) is a get-out-of-jail-free card for antisemitism.
Emily Tamkin writes, 'The idea that antisemitism is a new problem for the right in this country — one that must be condemned now, but was fine before Carlson invited Fuentes on his platform — is contradicted by the reality of the last decade of American political life.
"The Republican Jewish Coalition condemned Roberts for standing by Carlson. That’s good. However, the same group was proud to endorse Trump, whom it called 'the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history,' in 2024, two years after he had dinner with Fuentes and the rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, now known for his exceptionally vocal and vicious antisemitism."
I'll give Republicans credit for standing up to antisemitism in their own party when they summon the courage to stand up to Donald Trump's antisemitism.
Republicans can't defend their conduct, so they try to distract us and exploit our fears. We should be worried about antisemitism. By any rational assessment, we should be far more worried about Donald Trump than Zohran Mamdani. Republicans can no longer demonize Nancy Pelosi now that she's retired, so they'll set their sights on Mamdani. If they didn't have Mamdani, they'd find someone else to slander. Republicans will be Republicans. We need to get a grip and not fall for it.
The night he won, Mamdani delivered a victory speech outlining his plans and priorities for New York City. Read it carefully. Nothing about seizing the means of production. Nothing about Israel. Israel might be our obsession, but it's not his, and our focus on what he said about Israel prior to running for mayor does not mean that he will focus on Israel as mayor.
Mamdani did say in his victory speech, "We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism."
The next day, Mamdani condemned an act of antisemitic vandalism in Brooklyn.
How did the ADL respond? By announcing that it was setting up a tracker to monitor Mamdani. They don't have a tracker like this for Donald Trump.
Compare the ADL's reaction to Mamdani's victory to the ADL's reaction to Trump's victory in 2024.
Aside from the ADL's tracker serving as an example of how not to make friends and influence people, its announcement unwittingly illustrates a key difference between Mamdani and Trump--the latter is a dangerous authoritarian and the former is not:
As Shai Franklin pointed out, "that ADL felt safe issuing this statement, having not dared to stand up to Trump (and actually appeasing him, even as he demonizes & boycotts them), suggests the reality that Mamdani presents no serious threat to Jewish interests or welfare in New York or anywhere else."
David Axelrod called the ADL's "response to Mamdani's election shockingly gratuitous, inflammatory and deeply irresponsible."
Last week, I was in New York City for a meeting on antisemitism with Nexus Project President and National Director Jonathan Jacoby and other Jewish leaders committed to fighting antisemitism.
Watch Jacoby's response to the divisive and hyperbolic response from some corners of the American Jewish community to Mamdani's election.
Read the Nexus Project's statement explaining that "the approach taken by the Anti-Defamation League’s 'Mamdani Monitor,' and by several other organizations, is dangerous and counterproductive. It is generating fear and mistrust by targeting New York City’s newly elected leadership with aggressive and confrontational tactics, instead of engaging them in good faith to represent and advance the interests of Jewish New Yorkers."
Also worth reading: J Street's thread and New York Jewish Agenda's thread.
Am I minimizing the existential threat to Israel and the Jewish community posed by Mamdani? Think of all the New York City mayors who have gone on to become senator or governor or president. I can't think of any either. Think of all the New York City mayors who have led mass political movements throughout the country. I can't think of any either.
He's the mayor of a big city. He doesn't decide whether Israel gets aid from the United States or the extent of military cooperation between the U.S. and Israel. He's not the president of the United States. He's not the Speaker of the House. He's not the Senate Majority Leader. Let's focus on replacing those men instead of worrying about some big city mayor, even a big city mayor with a name that sounds scary to some of us.
I'll leave you with these: If you're still ruminating about Rabbi Angela Buchdahl's sermon, read this. If Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove's sermon is still taking up space in your head, read this. If the anti-Mamdani rhetoric confused you about the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, read this.
Michael Rothbaum asks the questions we should all be asking: "Why are we so focused on Mamdani — not Nazi-inspired ideas proliferating on the right" and the corollary question: Why are so many rabbis, by focusing their energies on attacking Mamdani, failing to engage with the most serious threat to Jews in this country?
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 wrote that Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty and said "F**K him." Trump did say that--in 2021, not last week. I meant to link to and comment on this article.
Here's What Else You Need To Know:
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Michael Koplow noted in his column last week that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was right when he said last week that West Bank annexation “will do more damage to Israel’s future than any bomb Iran could ever build,” and that “if you pretend the Palestinians will vanish, or that one state is viable, you are not being honest with Israel or with yourself.” Guess who is not being honest with Israel or with himself.
- Nancy Pelosi wrote last week that those who believe in liberty and dignity must never give in to the forces arrayed against the things we hold dearest. She announced her retirement last week. Pelosi was the most impactful and successful Speaker of the House of our lifetimes, maybe ever. Not only that, but this.
- Tom Nichols writes that the Trump administration is a confederacy of toddlers. Be sure to click on the link in the article on whataboutism, which explains the penchant of Trump defenders to point to misdeeds of others, real and imagined. to deflect from the objectively worse offenses of the Trump administration.
Republican Antisemitism of the Week. Republican antisemitism is so common that we don't consider it news anymore. That has to stop.
This week's loser is, again, Donald Trump for repeatedly, including last week, singling out Jews for blame when he fears that an election won't go his way. As Benyamin Cohen writes, "Trump’s remarks were the latest in a years-long pattern in which he has equated Jewish identity with political allegiance to him and to Israel, casting dissenters as disloyal or misguided."
To make this manageable, this feature focuses on Republicans who hold, or are the GOP nominee for, federal or statewide office and who have said or done something antisemitic in the past week. I'd do the same for Democrats, but I'd have too many long stretches of nothing.
Tweets of the Week. Ron Iver, Armand Domalweski, and Brian Krassenstein.
Thread of the Week. Things Mike Johnson has never heard of or doesn't know anything about.
Video Clip of the Week. Lost interview with Dick Cheney.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. There hasn't been this much excitement in New York City since the Rolling Stones performed on a flatbed truck rolling down 5th Avenue in 1975.
The Fine Print. I read every reply to this newsletter. I reply as often as I can. All I ask is that you 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 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 the IHRA definition of antisemitism and on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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