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June 16, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- It's been 254 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; 120 hostages, 43 confirmed dead (but certainly more), some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza today.
- The 120 remaining hostages comprise five religions and 25 nationalities, including eight Americans, five probably alive: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Keith Siegal, Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai.
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This newsletter features three important videos: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) webinar on antisemitism with experts Stacy Burdett and Amy Spitalnick; American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch's conversation with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; and Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer's debate with former Trump State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. I don't often recommend that you learn from videos but these three will make you smarter.
- The contrast between the parties is clear: President Biden and other Democrats firmly condemned the disgusting antisemitism that recently occurred in New York. Republicans continue to elevate antisemites to positions of power within their party.
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The Biden administration reaffirmed its commitment to Israel's security and the necessity of Hamas accepting the ceasefire deal on the table. The UN Security Council adopted the Biden administration's resolution calling on Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal.
- Let's not mince words: Donald Trump is a dangerous, unhinged antisemite who will be bad for Israel. The good news is that recent polling confirms that Biden's support among Jewish voters is not slipping and that Jewish voters overwhelmingly think Biden would be better than Trump for the U.S.-Israel relationship and at combatting antisemitism.
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,
I prefer to read. Unless it's comedy or music, which depends on presentation and timing, I'd rather not watch or listen. Reading is faster but also easier to slow down and think about. The advantage of having a conversation about what you read rather than what you watched or heard is that it's easier to at least agree on what was written than what flashed by on a screen or a pair of headphones.
Visual presentations more easily manipulate us; a captivating speaker can make the phone book seem interesting or compelling. I'd much rather read a lecture than watch a lecture. And who has the time to watch or listen to all these podcasts and TikTok reels? Some people listen while exercising or driving. I remember when mindfulness was trendy.
And yet--last week was the week for videos. These are worth watching not only because of the content but because of the interactions between differing points of view, which you typically don't get on the written page. If I had the patience for them, they should be snap for you.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hosted a webinar with two experts on antisemitism: Former Vice President for Government Relations, Advocacy and Community Engagement at the Anti-Defamation League Stacy Burdett and Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick. As you'll see from their credentials and their demeanor, they are the right people to drive these hard conversations with progressives.
AOC does not agree with Burdett and Spitalnick on all things Israel but AOC gave Burdett and Spitalnick a huge platform from which to directly talk to AOC's base. Can you imagine anyone on the right, let alone the far right, giving their platform to people like Burdett and Spitalnick? AOC took a lot of heat from some quarters for platforming Zionists. It did not faze her. Simply by hosting this webinar, AOC created a permission structure for progressive leaders to call out antisemitism.
If AOC does not represent the most progressive wing of the Democratic Party in Congress, I don't know who does. Her main point was that we can disagree on Israel but we cannot, we must not, allow the debate to veer into antisemitism--nor can we or should we falsely accuse those with whom we disagree of antisemitism.
The entire webinar is worth every minute.
Democratic leaders condemned recent antisemitism in New York. President Biden called the horrific acts of antisemitism last week "abhorrent."
The White House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), AOC, and Mayor Eric Adams were among the many Democrats who condemned antisemitic rhetoric from protests outside New York's Nova Exhibit.
Schumer, Adams, and others, including Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), condemned the antisemitic vandalism at the homes of Brooklyn Museum Board members. The White House offered support. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul called it an "abhorrent act of antisemitism." Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said, "this is not even close to free speech. This is intimidation. It is scapegoating. It is dehumanization. Invasive attacks loaded with the threat of looming violence. It is vile. It is nasty. It is un-American."
Separately, the Biden administration condemned the repugnant and antisemitic rhetoric at a protest in front of the White House last week.
You don't see Republicans condemning white nationalism or antisemitism on the right. Instead, you see Donald Trump, the leader of the GOP, calling marchers in Charlottesville "very fine people" and calling for a"unified Reich." You see the man House Republicans elected to lead them, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), flying a Christian nationalist flag outside his office. You see the #4 Republican, House Republican Caucus Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), consistently pushing and defending antisemitic rhetoric. What you don't see is any Republicans in Congress condemning this rhetoric.
(To be fair, the GOP is the party of racism generally--on Thursday, nearly the entire Republican House caucus voted to restore a Confederate monument to Arlington National Cemetery, which features a Black 'Mammy' holding a white soldier's baby and a slave following his master into battle.)
President Biden has taken concrete actions to fight antisemitism, including campus antisemitism. No president has done more to fight antisemitism. It's true: He does not respond in real-time to every act of antisemitism in the country or, for that matter, every act of hate against any group. If he did, that's all he'd be doing--he'd have his hands full just dealing with Republicans in Congress.
American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch interviewed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. This is a great 20-minute interview for anyone who has concerns about the Biden administration's approach to Israel, Gaza, and Iran. AJC does not always see eye-to-eye with the administration and Deutch asks Sullivan the questions we'd ask if we could sit down with him one-on-one. Even if you still disagree with Biden's polices, at least you'll disagree with his actual policies and not the caricatures we see on social media.
Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer debated former Trump State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. This is for everyone who complains that I don't present "the other side." I'm glad that some people want my newsletter to be twice as long, which is what presenting both sides would require. Luckily, you have access to other views and other sources of information (read the fine print at the bottom of every newsletter). It's more efficient to cut to the chase.
Yet there is value in sometimes seeing competing points of view side by side. Ortagus was lucky that Soifer's time was limited and that AJC did not provide real-time fact-checking. Watch the debate and form your own opinion.
The Biden administration reaffirmed its commitment to Israel's security. On June 11, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "President Biden is resolutely committed to Israel’s security, and to its defense. He is the first American president to come to Israel during a time of war, the first American president to commit American forces to help defend Israel when it was under attack from Iran in April. And we’re committed to the defeat of Hamas, to ensure that it can’t govern Gaza again. We also believe strongly that while military means have been necessary, they’re not sufficient, and there has to be a clear political plan, a clear humanitarian plan, in order to ensure that Hamas does not in any way, shape, or form resume control of Gaza and that Israel can move forward toward more enduring security."
The UN Security Council adopted the Biden administration's resolution calling on Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal 14-0-1. U.S. UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that "Hamas’ leaders are the ones who have put civilians at risk by hiding in tunnels underground and facilities that are near civilians and doing nothing to shelter those civilians. I’ve rarely ever seen anything so egregious and cowardly."
She said after the vote that "we cannot forget the Israelis displaced from their homes in northern Israel under threat from Hezbollah. These attacks from terrorist groups backed by Iran must stop. They have to stop." Blinken said on Thursday that Netanyahu reconfirmed Israel's support for the proposal and that the problem is Hamas.
Donald Trump is a dangerous, unhinged antisemite. Stealing and retaining classified documents, inciting an insurrection, refusing to accept the results of a lawful election, legal liability for sexual abuse, 34 felony convictions--any one of those should be disqualifying in the eyes of any decent American. We shouldn't even need to get to antisemitism and Israel.
But when Joe Biden talks about the "hostages" he is working to bring home, he's talking about the 120 people held by Hamas in Gaza. When Donald Trump talks about "the hostages" who are treated "horrifically," he's talking about January 6 insurrectionists held in U.S. prisons who he plans to pardon.
For any Jewish American to ignore Trump's affronts to our humanity, to ignore Trump's racism, xenophobia, long record of antisemitism, and contempt for democracy, not to mention his unhinged mind, his detachment from reality, and his hostility to reproductive rights, because of faux concerns about Israel and antisemitism when the facts show that Biden is great on both and Trump is terrible on both is a shanda for the goyim if there ever was one.
Michael Berenbaum writes that regardless of whether Trump is an antisemite (I think he is), "not subject to dispute is that his depiction of Jews reinforces many of the worst antisemitic tropes and is regarded by antisemites as code to reinforce and even strengthen their hateful views of Jews."
Berenbaum backs up his claim with facts and adds that "Trump is not a president who can be relied on to send warships to restrain Iran and Hezbollah or coordinate a response to direct attacks from Iran. Trump's 'go it alone' attitude would only exacerbate Israel's increasing isolation in the world.
"I also can't imagine Trump willing to pay a major political price for his support for Israel as his successor and opponent has done. Furthermore, Trump's isolationism would be a disaster for the world and could even be an existential threat for Israel – especially as we saw him distance himself from Israel and from Netanyahu – suddenly in his mind a weakened and failed leader -- in the immediate aftermath of October 7."
Some people will say this sounds partisan. Others will see it for what it is: the truth. We need to make sure that by November, more of the latter than the former turn out to vote. If your response to all this is that Biden is three years older than Trump and that's too old, you owe it to yourself to read this from Jennifer Rubin.
The good news is that contrary to the quadrennial false predictions, contrary to anecdotal evidence from within the bubbles some of us inhabit, credible polls show that Biden's support from Jewish Americans is not slipping and that by a 2-1 margin, Jewish voters think Biden would be better than Trump for the U.S.-Israel relationship. By nearly a 3-1 margin, Jewish voters think Biden would be better than Trump at combatting antisemitism.
Here's one more video--it's only 90 seconds.
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.
In Case You Missed It:
- The State Department sanctioned Tzav 9, a violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing, and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
- If you want to understand the dynamics of the peace deal currently under consideration, read this short thread from Yair Rosenberg and this short thread from Ron Kampeas (and the Jacob Magid thread embedded in Kampeas's thread).
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Ruth Marcus: We cannot forget the Americans held hostage in Gaza.
Tweets of the Week. Brian Klaas and Mikel Jollett.
Twitter Thread of the Week. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL).
Happy Birthday of the Week. 78 facts about Donald Trump for Trump's 78th birthday.
Video Clips of the Week. Zoom call techniques for everyone and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest featuring Donald Trump (the audio of Trump is real--he really said that).
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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