New groups provide platform for Jews disenchanted with Left
While American Jews are traditionally Liberal and left-wing despite the Democratic Party advancing anti-Israel policies and candidates, this may be changing as new groups challenge tradition, hinting that even liberal Jews may not be religiously Democratic.
US Jews voted left-wing with about 70–80% voting for Democrats since 1968. This support increased to 87% for Democratic House candidates during the 2006 midterm elections. This put them at odds with the evangelical voters who came out 60% in favor of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. This is a counterintuitive disparity as Trump and the Republicans, supported by the evangelicals, were seen as far more pro-Israel than the Democrats. The Jewish support came despite several high-profile congressmen, who made antisemitic and anti-Zionist public statements and had close relationships with blatant antisemites like Louis Farrakhan.
On the other hand, Trump, whose daughter is a Torah-observant Jew, was frequently targeted by the media as being an antisemite. To further complicate matters, the left-wing media labeled Trump an antisemite due to his evangelical support, despite that support coming due to his pro-Israel policies.
At least some American Jews are reassessing their allegiances. A small grassroots group has been organized based on realigning their political affiliation to more closely match their Jewish interests. Jexit is a contraction of “Jewish Exit”, echoing “Brexit”, the British political initiative that led to the UK leaving the European Union.
“For decades, American Jews have consistently supported Democrat candidates,” their website claims. “However, that party has undergone a seismic and alarming change. Accepting, approving and failing to condemn antisemitism shows the new direction of the Party. Endorsing the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement, threatening to block weapons sales to Israel, denying Israel’s right to self defense, indirectly funding Hamas by giving money to Iran, these are but some examples of how the radical left has abandoned the Jewish community. There are only 15 million Jews in the world, half of them live in Israel. We must stand together!”
“#JEXIT believes that American Jews can no longer blindly vote Democrat,” it declares. “We cannot be complicit in this dangerous trend, Israel’s very existence depends on us. It is time we come together, to defend and support Israel and that can only be accomplished through #JEXIT – Jews leaving the Democrat Party.”
Another political “Fight Club” which sees Jews beating themselves up centers around George Soros, the 92-year-old Jewish mega-billionaire. Critics of Soros are routinely labeled as antisemites. While Soros is Jewish, his more defining characteristic is his political activism. Soros is using his money to have a profound influence on politics. He has supported left-wing candidates and causes by donating more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations. He donated over $1 million to Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign and over $8 million to Democratic campaigns during Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful; bid for the White House. In 2020, Soros was one of Joe Biden’s largest contributors, donating at least $500,000 to his campaign.
While some negativity targeting the billionaire may indeed be based on the antisemitic trope of a global Jewish cabal, much of the criticism aimed at Soros are focused on his political influence. Indeed, these efforts are not universally supported and in September 2017, a petition to have him branded a “domestic terrorist” garnered over 100,000 signatures in two weeks.
Most recently, Elon Musk was accused of antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League for criticizing Soros for funding radical left-wing prosecutors, tweeting that the billionaire “hates humanity.”
This claim is accurate. Last year, Breitbart News published an article documenting the effects of funding by multi-billionaire George Soros on the rise in crime, most notably violent crime, in the US. The article listed nine prosecutors who received direct support from Soros-funded political action committees (PACs) and super PACs. It also listed three who had received indirect support from Soros. A further list of Soros-backed prosecutors, current through 2019, is available through Influence Watch.
Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli defended Musk by saying, “As Israel’s minister who’s entrusted with combating anti-Semitism, I would like to clarify that the Israeli government and the vast majority of Israeli citizens see Elon Musk as an amazing entrepreneur and a role model.”
“Criticism of Soros — who finances the most hostile organizations to the Jewish people and the state of Israel is anything but anti-Semitism, quite the opposite,” Chikli said.
Chikli’s statement is accurate. Ironically, the same groups and people who claim criticism of Soros is antisemitic have no problem with Soros’ anti-Israel activities. The OSF funds a number of anti-Israel organizations with radical left-wing agendas, such as Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Yesh Din, and al-Haq. These NGOs deny the legitimacy of Israel and Jewish sovereignty and are involved in demonization campaigns. Soros has publicly compared Israel to Nazi Germany
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been critical of Soros for this reason.
While some negativity targeting the billionaire may indeed be based on the antisemitic trope of a global Jewish cabal, much of the criticism aimed at Soros is focused on his political influence. Indeed, these efforts are not universally supported and in September 2017, a petition to have him branded a “domestic terrorist” garnered over 100,000 signatures in two weeks.
But criticism of Soros and his left-wing politics are routinely labeled as antisemitic, effectively deflecting criticism of his left-wing agendas.
For this reason, Josh Hammer, a writer who works for Newsweek, and Will Scharf, a candidate for state attorney general in Missouri, launched JewsAgainstSoros.com, a grassroots coalition of Jews who oppose George Soros’s “radical left-wing agenda”.
“We are Jews who have had enough of George Soros and his malign, leftist influence on American politics,” the website stated. “We are Jews who are also sick and tired of the left accusing anyone who criticizes Soros of being antisemitic.”
“Let us be very clear: There is nothing antisemitic about condemning George Soros. There is nothing antisemitic about identifying the many ways that George Soros and his network of organizations fund the radical left. Leftism isn’t Judaism, and being anti-leftist is not the same as being Antisemitic. Period. It’s time for Jews all over America to stand up against George Soros.”
Indeed, the group makes it clear that opposing George Soros might be the most Jewish thing a Jew can do, as he “has secretly been one of the key funders behind the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the world. Soros’s foundations have even supported groups with known ties to Palestinian terrorists, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).”
Not all agree. Haaretz, Israel’s far-left English language media, slammed the new anti-Soros group.
“Orbán and the global far-right could not have had more helpful servants: ‘Jews against Soros’ – the kosherization of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, caricatures and the flood of demonizing the left,” wrote Esther Solomon the editor-in-chief of Haaretz.
In response, Josh Hammer wrote on his Twitter page:
“Fact: Hungary’s @PM_ViktorOrban is a much better friend of the Jewish state of Israel than the self-hating, pro-Palestinian editors of far-left @haaretzcom. Deal with it.”
It should be noted that Soros, born Jewish, lived through the Holocaust in Hungary, surviving as a courier for the Jewish council that identified and kept track of the Jews for the Nazi occupiers. He later assumed a fake name, and his father paid a Christian government official to take the boy in as his “godson.”
The post New groups provide platform for Jews disenchanted with Left appeared first on Israel365 News.
Israel in the News
