|
December 22, 2024
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
1) It's been 443 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; 100 hostages, many dead, some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza as we head into Hanukkah and 2025.
2) The 100 remaining hostages include seven Americans, some possibly alive: Keith Siegal, Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai.
3) If you want to compare Democrats and Republicans on Israel and antisemitism, don't rely on spin, polls, or unreliable media reports. Instead, compare the party conventions, compare the party platforms, compare how the parties vote on Israel, and compare antisemitic rhetoric (or lack thereof) among party leaders. Democrats win every time.
4) Ben Wikler would be an outstanding Democratic National Committee Chair, which is why right-wing Jewish media is attacking him with false and misleading allegations about his views on Israel. I spoke with him on Friday to get the truth.
5) Congress will not pass the deeply flawed and misleadingly titled Antisemitism Awareness Act this year. Instead of pushing this boulder up the hill in yet another session next year, Congress should focus on passing the far superior Countering Antisemitism Act.
This is a reader-supported newsletter. 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,
Amazon, Meta, and others are planning to give $1 million each to Trump's inaugural fund. ABC settled a defamation lawsuit by agreeing to pay $15 million toward Trump's presidential library (seriously) that it could and should have won.
Jennifer Rubin wrote a great piece on the epidemic of obsequiousness toward Trump (don't stop reading there--she also summarizes Doug Emhoff's accomplishments as Second Gentleman).
No obsequiousness here. Please rest assured that if you support this newsletter, I will not give a dime of your money to Trump.
We should judge Democrats and Republicans by their actions on Israel and antisemitism. Actions are more important than spin, polls, and sanctimonious claims from suspect media outlets.
Exhibit A--The Conventions: Compare the Democratic and Republican platforms on Israel and antisemitism that each party adopted at their conventions and you'll see that there is no comparison. The Democratic convention was entirely supportive of Israel and opposed to antisemitism. The Republican convention featured a cavalcade of antisemitic extremists, including Donald Trump, whose long history of antisemitism does not seem to bother his Jewish Republican supporters.
JD Vance (remember that guy--Trump's vice president?) has defended Trump's antisemitic comments (more details here). Vance supports the Great Replacement Theory. The Nexus Project posted a thread on Vance's antisemitism over the years
Trump capped off the Republican convention with a rambling 90-minute speech loaded with falsehoods, exaggerations, and misleading statements. If Democrats made a mistake in the last election, it was that they did not find a way to force undecided voters to watch all of Trump's speech the way Alex was forced to watch movies in Clockwork Orange. This remains the best 20 seconds of the Republican convention.
Exhibit B--Aid to Israel. When it comes down to voting, Democrats support aid to Israel. Republicans delay or oppose it. Small groups of Democrats criticize Israel but the Democratic Party understands that there is no inconsistency between sympathizing with the plight of the Palestinians, regardless of whose fault it is, and supporting Israel's safety and security. Rather, the two go hand in hand. Israel can only survive as a Jewish, democratic state under a two-state solution.
A two-state solution is not possible anytime soon. No one thinks otherwise. The key is to end the war in Gaza, release all the hostages, and begin working toward a two-state solution, which means zero tolerance for Palestinian terrorism and rockets and zero tolerance for settlement expansion and settler terrorism--and certainly not Israeli re-occupation of Gaza. Democrats who voice these concerns are pro-Israel.
What about calls to cut or condition aid to Israel? That's all they are and all they will be unless Israel's current government chooses to proceed with annexation or otherwise acts inconsistently with our shared values.
Some of us might wish that members of Congress would put their hands over the ears and shout "la la la" if Israel takes the actions some in its government want it to take. The better approach to pro-Israel advocacy is to acknowledge reality and distinguish between the government of Israel and the State of Israel. The latter deserves to live in peace and security regardless of what the former does. We cannot expect policymakers who care about the State to ignore actions of the government that erode support for the State and damage the U.S.-Israel relationship.
If you're worried about aid to Israel, you should be worried about actions taken--and not taken--by the GOP: On September 29, 2023, 198 House Republicans — 90% — drafted, brought to the floor, and voted for legislation that included cutting aid to Israel by 30%, which would have violated our Memorandum of Understanding with Israel. Democrats unanimously opposed it. It failed despite overwhelming GOP support.
President Biden requested $14 billion in emergency aid for Israel after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks. Republicans delayed this aid for six months. Vance, Trump's choice for Vice President, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump's choice for Secretary of State, 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. They were in the minority even of Republicans on the April 23 vote.
Not to be outdone, Donald Trump proposed eliminating all foreign aid (no exception for Israel) and replacing it with loans.
Exhibit C--Antisemitism. The Democratic Party marginalizes and condemns antisemitism within its ranks. The Republican Party elevates antisemites to its highest ranks. As mentioned above, both Trump and Vance have engaged in antisemitic rhetoric.
The entire Republican House leadership team has histories of antisemitism. None of their counterparts in the Democratic Party has any history of antisemitism. Remember: These people are elected to leadership by their party's members of Congress.
Yes, of the 335 million people in the United States, some are on the left, and some of those are antisemitic. No question. But they don't lead the Democratic Party. You have to go back a long way to find a Democratic president or candidate for president with a history of antisemitism. None of the rumored 2028 Democratic candidates are antisemitic.
You need look no further than Donald Trump and JD Vance to find examples in the Republican Party. You will look in vain for any Republican members of Congress or Republican presidential candidates who have condemned their antisemitism.
Ben Wikler would be an outstanding choice for Democratic National Committee Chair. If he is elected, the Democratic Party will continue its commitment to Israel's safety and security. That's why the Republican-controlled media is attacking him with inaccurate and misleading headlines and stories. I spoke with Wikler, currently the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair, on Friday. This is a summary of our conversation:
Wikler's consistent position, on the record many times, has been supporting the Biden-Harris administration's call for a return of hostages, a ceasefire, and a just, enduring peace with safety, security, freedom, and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians alike. He has spoken about the horror of October 7 immediately after the attacks and many times since.
Wikler oversaw the formation of the Jewish Caucus at the Wisconsin Dems. Former U.S. Special Envoy for combating antisemitism and CEO of Milwaukee Jewish Federation Hannah Rosenthal was his Bar Mitzvah rabbi. At his Bar Mitzvah, his family displayed pictures of relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust.
Wikler told me that he believes in a "big tent" approach to winning elections. He said that "people who disagree on a lot can agree on the core beliefs that make you a Democrat." On Israel, this means support for a ceasefire, return of the hostages, and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians: a two-state solution.
His goal is to create the largest coalition possible in support of the next Democratic presidential nominee, including at the 2028 convention. If Wikler becomes DNC Chair he will not hire Elon Musk to build a time machine so that he can change the 2024 convention speaking schedule.
The ideologically diverse speakers at the 2024 Democratic Convention all supported the Democratic nominee for president despite their unvoiced (at the convention) disagreements on certain particulars. For the same reasons that they spoke, Wikler believes that it could have been beneficial to have a Palestinian-American who supported Harris for president and who agreed with her ultimate vision of two states, release of the hostages, and dignity and safety for both peoples speak at the convention about why they support Harris. Why should that be the least bit controversial?
Wikler would NOT have wanted a speaker at the convention to take the stage and voice disagreement with the Biden-Harris administration's policies, including on Israel. Many speakers disagree with Biden-Harris policies on their own time, but the convention is the place to speak to their unity. Adam Kinzinger--who is vehemently anti-choice and strongly disagrees with many Biden-Harris policies--spoke at the convention. Others, like AOC and Bernie Sanders, who disagree with many Biden-Harris policies, including at times about policy regarding Israel, spoke at the convention—but their speeches at the convention focused on why they support Harris.
This speaker too would have been required to not mention any disagreements with Harris in their convention speech and, like the other speakers, focus on the values they shared with Harris.
The notion that Wikler would have supported a convention speech with anti-Israel rhetoric is absurd given Wikler's positions on Israel and given Wikler's belief that convention speakers should support the nominee and the party. The Jewish and pro-Israel communities will have a good friend if Wikler becomes DNC Chair. And we'll win.
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, so I guess it was perfect.
In Case You Missed It:
1) I interviewed Rabbi Jack Moline about his just-published Volume II of his excellent Torah commentary. If you're looking for a wonderful Hanukkah present for yourself or others, look no further.
2) Congress will not pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act this year. That's good news. The Antisemitism Awareness Act was a step backward in the fight against antisemitism. Instead, Congress should next year pass the Countering Antisemitism Act, which was sponsored this year in the Senate by Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and in the House by Kathy Manning (D-NC), ideally without its reference to the flawed IHRA definition of antisemitism.
3) On December 17, the House voted 402-12 to reauthorize the Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to support Holocaust education programs. All 12 "no" votes were cast by Republicans.
4) Mike Huckabee is one of many "stunningly unqualified" diplomatic picks by Donald Trump.
5) Yehuda Cohen, the father of one of the hostages, Nimrod Cohen, currently being held by Hamas, thanked Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) for their symbolic votes on arms sales to Israel.
6) President Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel at his last Hannukah Party. He was and is a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people. This could have been a sad evening but it wasn’t. So many amazing people who worked hard to make this country better were there, and while we cannot be under any illusion that the next four years will be easy, I am confident that if we don’t give up, we will prevail and we will be back.
7) David Schraub connects the dots between Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan (Biden was right) and Biden's commutation (not pardon) order for roughly 1,500 people, including former judge Michael Conahan (Biden was also right).
8) According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, the pillars of Trump's presidency will be "personal revenge, the destruction of American institutions, and the use of political office for gain, also known as graft."
9) But Trump is right on two issues. We should abolish the debt limit (not for two years but forever), and we should abolish the Electoral College. To the extent either ever had any legitimate reason for being, that time has long passed. Democrats should seize the moment and dare Republicans to oppose their Dear Leader (I'm talking now about Trump, not Musk).
Social Posts of the Week. Jon Drake and Trae Crowder.
Thread of the Week. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
Video Clips of the Week. Chris Rock's December 14 SNL monologue and in honor of the upcoming Bob Dylan movie, this clip from Dylan's December 16, 1965 press conference.
Holiday Video Clip of the Week. This you call a wonderful life?!
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Who Are You (because they seem to be having so much fun).
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).
I hope you enjoyed today's newsletter. It takes time to write and costs money to send. If you'd like to chip in, click here and fill in the amount of your choice. You don't need a PayPal account. If you see something that says "Save your info and create a PayPal account," click the button to the right and it will go away. Or you can Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (last four phone digits are 9479). Or you can send a check.
| 