A Guide for the Perplexed (American Jewish Voter)

Perhaps, at this late hour, there are some American Jewish Zionists out there who are still undecided and perplexed. If so, I offer my “geopolitical scientist/Zionist” view of our world. Based on decades of experience in the Field, both in the US and Israel, I hope these words will sway the hearts and minds of some of my American Am. On the eve of this fateful election for the the 47th President of the United States of America, I once again put myself out there and speak my mind.

Let me be clear. I am, at my core, a Pragmatist with very high Ideals. I believe in a Moral Code but I know that humans are flawed. As did the Founders of this experiment known as the United States. And so, we have a Constitution that is like the “Torah” of the evolving  American democratic tradition. The great experiment of American Democracy is to see whether People can govern themselves without a source of Moral Authority. There was an understanding that our leaders would be truthful, we could trust them and our leaders would follow the law of the land. The Constitution divided power into three separate branches of government at the federal level and reserved power to the states. From these bare bones, America in 2024 has emerged as a rather complicated, complex and fraught place.

Let me be clear. While I lean left, I am not a woke Democratic progressive type partisan. I have voted for Republican presidential candidates when I felt, from a geopolitical point of view, this was better for Israel. Then, I had total trust in the American system of Checks and Balances and the Supreme Court. I no longer have that trust. Donald Trump has maligned and distorted the institutions of our American democracy in a way that has degraded our civil society. His flagrant disregard for the Rule of Law is disgusting. How American Jews, who have thrived in this society where the Rule of Law has been respected, ignore this part of Donald Trump, is an embarrassment to me. Is it because we are so comfortable with our wealth and we like our tax structures and our philanthropic loopholes that the Republican Party protect? I think our tradition calls upon us to be much better than that at this fragile time in our American Democracy.

Let me be clear. I am disgusted that the world seems to have forgotten the horrors of October 7 while asymmetric warfare buries the just cause of Israel’s Right to Exist. I live 8 blocks south of the gates of Columbia University and have been drowning in the anti-semitic anti-Zionism that has infected our civil discourse. Yet, I ask my fellow American Jews, HOW CAN YOU FORGET JANUARY 6? Trump unleashed a riot in Washington, DC.  Did you not see it with your own eyes? We Jews know double standards only too well. If we as Jews demand the world remember October 7, as American citizens, shouldn’t we also remember January 6?

Let me be clear. I am listening to Donald Trump. I am watching Donald Trump. I am scared of Donald Trump. When he was imagining the firing squad around his “enemy” Liz Cheney, he saw nine barrels around her head. Why nine? Maybe because it is the same sound as the German word for no? Maybe his not very well suppressed desire to be a dictator like Hitler prompted that word to come out of his mouth. My fellow American Jews, if you ignore this man’s words, I fear you are as stupid as the Jews of Europe in the 1930’s. Or you have as much hubris as the Israeli establishment that ignored Hamas’s preparations for the invasion or the words of the female surveillance officers. Why would you squander the blessing of our sovereignty in this country and vote for a man who wants to be an authoritarian? Is your financial health that important? Are you excited about the opportunities that Trump offers to make money if the Abraham Accords should bear more economic fruit?

Finally, let me be clear. The geopolitical military strategic alliance between the United States of America and the State of Israel transcends whoever is President or Prime Minister. Ask any analyst with any credibility. And, remember, while you may be Israel centric, the fact is that the President of the United States of America needs to be concerned with other global issues as well. If you truly want to be Israel centric, make Aliyah. Right now, what Israel needs is solid and steady leadership in the White House. There is no doubt in my mind that the black woman with the white Jewish husband is worthy of the job. And I trust her.  And she truly cares about people. And about America.

May these words guide those who continue to be perplexed.  And may God Bless America.