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August 4, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- It's been 303 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; about 115 hostages, 48 confirmed dead (but certainly more), some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza today.
- The roughly 115 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. Freeing every hostage must remain a top priority.
- Kamala Harris is not a mystery. She has a long and proven record of strong support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism. We cannot blame anyone for not knowing her record. It's our responsibility to inform them, and this newsletter contains the resources you need.
- The three reasons Jewish Americans should support Kamala Harris over Donald Trump are 1) her record on Israel and antisemitism, 2) Donald Trump's record on Israel and antisemitism, which alone should disqualify him from our consideration, and 3) Trump's unfitness for office and his other policy positions.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
Help spread the word by supporting this newsletter. You can chip in via credit card or PayPal, or by Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (last four phone digits are 9479), or by check--or you are welcome to read for free.
Hi Steve,
Despite Kamala Harris's decades of public service, some of our friends are unfamiliar with her record, including her record on Israel and antisemitism. That's understandable. She's been running for president for about two weeks, and until recently, they've had no reason to focus on her.
If I was a conspiracy theorist, I might wonder if a coordinated effort was behind all the similarly worded blog posts and emails coming from lifelong Democrats who would never vote for Trump but gosh darn it, aren't sure about Kamala Harris, there's just something about her, but we can't put our finger on what it is ... Maybe it's groupthink within certain bubbles. It doesn't matter. People want to know. Here are the resources you need:
The first step is to know who Kamala Harris is. Read her summary biography, which succinctly covers her record as District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, United States Senator, and Vice President.
The second and last step is to understand the three (and only three) reasons to vote for her. If these three reasons don't persuade your interlocutor to vote for Harris instead of staying home or writing in another candidate, let alone voting for Trump, you should stop wasting your time on them and focus on making sure that people who are for real turn out and vote. If someone claims that they are a Democrat or a Never Trumper but isn't voting for Harris then they are either lying to you or to themselves, especially if they say they are concerned about Israel and antisemitism. The facts are clear.
Reason #1: Kamala Harris's proven record of support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism. There is no daylight between Harris and Biden on policy regarding Israel and antisemitism, which is clear if you know what Harris has said and done. These are the key resources:
Vice presidents rarely adopt policies that differ from the president under whom they served. Truman continued and built upon Roosevelt's policies. Johnson continued and built upon Kennedy's policies (for better--civil rights and social programs, and for worse--Vietnam). Ford continued and built upon Nixon's policies. George H.W. Bush continued and built upon Reagan's policies. None of this is surprising. Presidential candidates generally don't choose running mates who disagree with them on major issues.
We have no reason to believe that Harris will not continue and build upon Biden's policies, which have led to the most successful first term of any president in decades, and Harris's record shows that there is no daylight between Harris and Biden on Israel or antisemitism.
Reason #2: Donald Trump's proven record of antisemitism and misguided policies on Israel and Iran.
Trump's antisemitism is a matter of fact. Trump has a long record of antisemitism and accusing Jews of disloyalty.
Trump repeatedly invokes Hitler and the Nazis and called for the "creation of a unified reich" on May 21, 2024. Trump dined with Kanye West and white nationalist/Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. Trump said that the white nationalists marching with tiki torches in Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us" were "very fine people." No less an authority than JD Vance once called Trump "America's Hitler."
On July 26, 2024, Trump said “Christians, get out and vote! Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine! You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians! I’m a Christian.” Trump was given chance after chance in this friendly softball interview to walk it back and wouldn't.
On July 31, Trump called Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, "a proud member of Hamas." Schumer called out Trump last week for his most recent round of antisemitism, when Trump agreed that Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was a "crappy Jew" and said that the vast majority of Jewish voters are fools.
Trump was not and will not be good on Israel. Do you remember April 13? It is only thanks to the Biden-Harris administration that April 13, 2024 will not go down in history as a worse day than October 7, 2023. April 13 was the day that Iran launched hundreds of missiles toward Israel.
The Biden-Harris administration organized a coordinated response with our allies, moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region, and became the first administration to use U.S. forces to directly defend Israel from attack--in this case, an attack that would have been many times worse than October 7.
But as Michael Berenbaum writes, "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."
If you think that Trump could have put together the coalition that the Biden-Harris team assembled, which saved thousands of Israelis from Iran's April 13 ballistic missile attacks, read what two hawkish Republican national security experts say about Trump's fitness for office.
Trump's isolationist America First policies will render the U.S. less able to defend Israel militarily and diplomatically. Eric Edelman explains that "questioning American alliances and depicting them as purely economic transactions — or, more crudely, as protection rackets — will inevitably bleed over into discussions of the U.S.-Israel relationship. As the America First faction grows in power inside the Republican Party, the antisemitism that accompanies it will begin to undermine support for Israel over the long haul."
Trump attacked Israel and its leaders days after October 7. Trump said nothing while Republicans were blocking vital emergency aid to Israel for six months. During that same period, the Biden-Harris administration approved over 100 arms sales to Israel.
Trump walked away from the Iran Deal while the deal was working and Iran was still in compliance. Then his “maximum pressure” strategy failed, his efforts at the UN to continue the arms embargo against Iran failed, and his efforts at the UN to snap back sanctions against Iran failed. Trump's Iran policy was a disaster.
Trump's moving the embassy to Jerusalem made Israel neither safer nor more secure. Few cared where the embassy was until Republicans decided it would bolster the presidential candidacy of Sen. Robert Dole (R-KA). Now it’s Trump’s antisemitic dog-whistle to right-wing Evangelicals.
Anshel Pfeffer wrote that Trump’s recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights was an empty gesture--"just as his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was. It won’t change the status of the Golan in international law and with the exception of a few client-states in Latin America, no other country is going to follow suit.”
Reason #3--Donald Trump's unfitness for office and his abhorrent policy positions. A Trump victory in November would mean the end of legal abortion. A 34-time convicted felon should not be president. A man who paid hush money to cover up sex with a porn star four months after his wife gave birth to prevent Americans from knowing his true character before an election should not be president.
Trump's bigotry, xenophobia, and contempt for democracy, not to mention his unhinged mind, his detachment from reality, his theft of classified documents, inciting an insurrection, refusing to accept the results of a lawful election, legal liability for sexual abuse, and terrible record as president are matters of fact.
Watch lowlights of Trump at last week's National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago and you'll understand why Trump refuses to have fact-checkers at his debates. Trump, of course, was not talking to the audience in the room. He was talking to his white nationalist supporters who would see it on video. But while what he said might appeal to his racist base, does it appeal to you?
Read JDCA's fact sheet for more information and remember that it's not just Trump: Peter Wehner described last week what has happened to the Republican Party.
The November election is not a referendum on Kamala Harris. It's a choice between Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. If you still don't see why, watch this new 90-second Lincoln Project video.
Staying at home or writing in a third candidate is saying that you don't see a tangible difference between the paths each candidate will take our country. Trump is 78 years old, yet he chose JD Vance as his running mate even though not even Trump could bring himself to say that Vance is ready to be president.
This is the clearest choice between two presidential candidates in our lifetimes, even more than in 2020 because we've seen confirmation since then that Trump is exactly who we feared he'd be. If you have questions about Harris, ask away. Find the facts or use the resources I provided to find the facts.
But always remember that the alternative to Kamala Harris is not a candidate who looks and thinks just like you. The alternative is Donald Trump. Your voting booth is not a restaurant where you can create your own combination salad. It's a binary, partisan choice.
In 2008, David Sedaris compared that kind of decision-making to "being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of [s**t] with bits of broken glass in it?'
"To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
"I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?"
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 substantive errors in last week's newsletter. There was one typo that did not change the meaning.
In Case You Missed It:
- President Biden announced that the administration's diplomacy succeeded in winning the release of American hostages held by Russia. Vice President Harris played a key role in the negotiations. Remember when Trump said that Gershkovich would only be released if he won in November? Biden was personally engaged in diplomacy to free the hostages an hour before he went on TV to announce that he would not run for reelection--because some people thought he was too old to do the job.
Tweets of the Week. The Volatile Mermaid and Halie Soifer.
Mic Drop of the Week. Joe Biden.
Video Clip of the Week. Jewish Americans stand with Kamala Harris.
Vintage Music Video of the Week. The Beatles performing "Help."
Upcoming Event--New Date. Join Politics with Dana and Steve, Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania, and other Jewish Battleground Coalition groups for Project 2025: Everything You Need to Know, on Tuesday, August 27, at 7:00 pm ET on Zoom. It's free but RSVP is required.
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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