Republicans have repeatedly tried, unsuccessfully, to win the support of American Jews, who have historically supported Democrats in overwhelming numbers. One memorable attempt was the campaign by Donald Trump and others on the right to falsely portray Barack Obama as a Muslim locked in the closet those who professed other religions should fear. American Jews were not as intolerant as expected: Obama won 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008 and 70% in 2012.
This election, however, seems different. October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, was followed by a Increase in anti-Semitic attacksMore and more Jews have begun to question their safety in this country. Much of anti-Semitism emanating from the political leftRepublicans seem to think their time has come to win the Jewish vote.
Their argument seems simple: One can deplore Trump’s assault on democratic institutions, reproductive rights and the rule of law, but one can no longer afford to care about such things — not when the future of Jews in America is being threatened by protesters praising Hamas and Israel is waging an existential war against Iranian proxies.
It’s no coincidence that in the days after Vice President Kamala Harris became Trump’s presumptive rival for the presidency, Trump began falsely portraying her as an enemy of Israel and Jews. “She is totally against the Jewish people,” he declared at a rally in North Carolina on July 24. “First of all, she doesn’t like Israel. Second of all, she doesn’t like the Jewish people.” He told a New York radio station July 30th.
Leaving aside the fact that Harris is the first vice president in history with a Jewish wife, Trump has repeatedly and recently demonstrated that he is not a true friend of Israel or the Jewish people. Just four days after October 7, He criticized Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to prevent the Hamas invasion and called Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group that has been firing rockets at Israel since October 8, “clever.” At a rally in Florida on the same dayHe said the Israeli military needed to “up its game,” referred to Israel’s defense minister as “this idiot,” and reiterated that he considers Hezbollah “very smart.”
Imagine the outrage if a Democrat – let alone the party leader – had said any of this right after the Hamas massacre.
Trump also called on Israel to “End your war” already in March. It was not until two months later that President Biden gave his speech. first public call for an end to the war in Gaza, a condition that, unlike Trump's, is conditional on Hamas releasing Israeli hostages. Trump repeated his call during Netanyahu's visit to the United States in July, saying Israel must end the war “And let it be done quickly.” Speaking to Fox News, he added that “Israel is not very good at public relations” and that it was “being decimated” in that regard.
Anyone who is understandably concerned about the Israeli government's shift to the far right in recent years should note that the Trump administration empowered he ultranationalist forces responsible for its growing international isolation.
Trump has also repeatedly insulted Jews in his desperate attempt to reimagine the Democrats as a party of anti-Semites, saying that American Jews should have their “head examined” and “be ashamed of themselves“for supporting Democrats. He recently called Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of the nation's highest-ranking Jewish officials and a staunch supporter of Israel, “A proud member of Hamas.”
Trump's MAGA camp is riddled with actual anti-Semites. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump loyalist who famously blamed Jewish space lasers for California's wildfires, opposed a bipartisan bill to address anti-Semitism on the premise that it rejected “the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.” Greene’s far-right colleague Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) voted against the bill for the same reason. Holocaust denier Candace Owens was set to appear alongside Donald Trump Jr. at a recent campaign event, if not for a reaction of the Jewish community. The former president has also fraternized with blatant anti-Semites such as Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.
Again, try to imagine if personalities like these were connected to Harris or Biden.
For all the legitimate fears raised by the violent protests against Israel over the past ten months, let us remember that the bloodiest days for Jews in the United States were at the hands of the far right, not the far left. The deadliest attack on Jews in American history was perpetrated at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 by a white nationalist who believed in the far-right conspiracy theory of the “great replacement,” according to which Jews are working to flood the country with illegal immigrants. The year before, neo-Nazi Trump supporters marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” Then-President Trump insisted that some of them were “Jews who are not Jews.”very fine people.”
Jews have long been overrepresented in social justice movements in this country, which may be one reason for their enduring common cause with Democrats. But Jewish support for the party has never been tested as it has been since October 7. Recent polls showed 89% of American Jews have seen a rise in anti-Semitism and 60% They feel uncomfortable speaking openly about their faith. The background to this feeling of insecurity is the extreme rhetoric of some anti-Israel protesters. While most protesters have been peaceful, others have He called for the death of the Jews and voiced support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
A recent clear example of the state of the Democratic Party's relationship with Jews was a Conversation on CNN about Kamala Harris’s potential running mates. Regarding Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the network’s John King told Anderson Cooper, “He’s Jewish; there might be some risk in putting him on the ticket,” a reference to the party’s split over the Gaza war. The fact that Cooper didn’t ask a follow-up question or raise an eyebrow at the idea that Shapiro’s faith presented an issue suggested — rightly or wrongly — that King was stating a fact of Democratic politics. While Harris’ selection of a running mate undoubtedly depended on a variety of variables, it’s a troubling insight into the party that has been the political home of most Jewish voters for the better part of a century.
Yet, especially after the powerful expressions of support for Israel and the Jewish people at last week’s Democratic National Convention, Trump’s attempt to cast Harris as his enemy seems absurd. American Jews’ relationship with Democrats has certainly been complicated, but – particularly in light of the alternative – it is likely to remain strong.
Yardena Schwartz is a journalist and author of “Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Palestine Massacre That Sparked the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”
