Republicans have repeatedly tried — and failed — to win over Jewish People, who’ve traditionally supported Democrats in overwhelming numbers. One memorable try was the marketing campaign by Donald Trump and others on the precise to falsely painting Barack Obama as a closeted Muslim who must be feared by these of different faiths. American Jews weren’t as bigoted as they hoped: Obama won 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008 and 70% in 2012.
This election, nevertheless, feels completely different. Since Oct. 7, the deadliest day for Jews for the reason that Holocaust, was adopted by a surge in antisemitic attacks, extra Jews have begun to query their security on this nation. With much of the antisemitism emanating from the political left, Republicans appear to suppose their second to win the Jewish vote has arrived.
Their argument seems to be easy: You might deplore Trump’s assault on democratic establishments, reproductive rights and the rule of regulation, however you possibly can’t afford to care about these issues anymore — not when the way forward for Jews in America is being threatened by protesters who reward Hamas and Israel is preventing an existential warfare in opposition to Iranian proxies.
It’s no coincidence that within the days after Vice President Kamala Harris grew to become Trump’s presumptive rival for the presidency, Trump started to falsely body her as an enemy of Israel and Jews. “She’s completely in opposition to the Jewish folks,” he declared at a rally in North Carolina on July 24. “No. 1, she doesn’t like Israel. No. 2, she doesn’t like Jewish folks,” he told a New York radio station on July 30.
Setting apart that Harris is the primary vp in historical past with a Jewish partner, Trump has repeatedly and not too long ago proven that he’s no true good friend of Israel or the Jewish folks. Simply 4 days after Oct. 7, he criticized Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to forestall Hamas’ invasion and referred to as Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group that has been firing rockets at Israel since Oct. 8, “sensible.” At a rally in Florida the same day, he mentioned the Israeli navy needed to “step up their sport,” referred to Israel’s protection minister as “this jerk” and reiterated that he considers Hezbollah “very sensible.”
Think about the outrage if a Democrat — not to mention the celebration’s chief — had mentioned any of this simply after Hamas’ bloodbath.
Trump was moreover calling on Israel to “finish up your war” as way back as March. It was not till two months later that President Biden delivered his first public call for an finish to the warfare in Gaza — one conditioned, not like Trump’s, on a Hamas launch of Israeli hostages. Trump repeated his name throughout Netanyahu’s July go to to the US, saying Israel must end the war “and get it performed rapidly.” Talking on Fox Information, he added that “Israel will not be excellent at public relations” and was “getting decimated” on that rating.
Anybody understandably involved concerning the Israeli authorities’s far-right flip lately ought to take into account that the Trump administration empowered the ultranationalist forces chargeable for its rising worldwide isolation.
Trump has additionally repeatedly insulted Jews in his determined bid to reimagine Democrats as a celebration of antisemites, saying Jewish People ought to have their “head examined” and “be ashamed of themselves” for supporting Democrats. He not too long ago referred to as Senate Majority Chief Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of many nation’s highest-ranking Jewish officers and a staunch supporter of Israel, “a proud member of Hamas.”
It’s Trump’s MAGA camp that’s infested with precise antisemites. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump loyalist who famously blamed California wildfires on Jewish area lasers, opposed a bipartisan bill to address antisemitism on the premise that it rejected “the Gospel that claims Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.” Greene’s far-right colleague Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) voted in opposition to the invoice for a similar motive. The Holocaust denier Candace Owens was to look alongside Donald Trump Jr. at a latest marketing campaign occasion if not for a backlash from the Jewish group. The previous president has additionally fraternized with unabashed antisemites comparable to Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.
Once more, attempt to think about if personalities like these had been linked to Harris or Biden.
For all of the professional fears aroused by violent anti-Israel protests during the last 10 months, let’s keep in mind that the bloodiest days for Jews in America had been by the hands of the far proper, not the far left. The deadliest assault on Jews in U.S. historical past was perpetrated at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 by a white nationalist who believed within the far-right “nice substitute” conspiracy concept that Jews are working to flood the nation with unlawful immigrants. The earlier yr, neo-Nazi Trump supporters marched by means of Charlottesville, Va., chanting, “Jews is not going to exchange us.” Then-President Trump insisted that a few of them had been “very fine people.”
Jews have lengthy been overrepresented in social justice actions on this nation, which can be one motive for his or her enduring widespread trigger with Democrats. However Jewish assist for the celebration has by no means been examined because it has since Oct. 7. Latest surveys confirmed 89% of American Jews have seen a rise in antisemitism and 60% really feel uncomfortable being open about their religion. The backdrop to this sense of insecurity is the intense rhetoric of some anti-Israel protesters. Whereas a lot of the protesters have been peaceable, others have called for the deaths of Jews and expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
One stark latest instance of the state of the Democratic Get together’s relationship with Jews was a conversation on CNN about Kamala Harris’ potential operating mates. Concerning Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the community’s John King advised Anderson Cooper, “He’s Jewish; there might be some threat in placing him on the ticket,” a reference to the celebration’s division over the warfare in Gaza. That Cooper didn’t ask a follow-up or increase an eyebrow at the concept Shapiro’s religion offered an issue advised — rightly or not — that King was stating a truth of Democratic politics. Though Harris’ choice of a operating mate little doubt relied on a wide range of variables, it’s a troubling notion of the celebration that has been the political residence of most Jewish voters for the higher a part of a century.
However, particularly after the highly effective expressions of support for Israel and the Jewish people finally week’s Democratic Nationwide Conference, Trump’s quest to color Harris as their enemy appears absurd. American Jews’ relationship with Democrats has definitely been difficult, however — notably in mild of the choice — it’s more likely to stay sturdy.
Yardena Schwartz is a journalist and the creator of “Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine that Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”
