American Jewish Voters Can Save America From Fascism

Four years ago, almost to the day, I wrote in the Times of Israel an essay, entitled “ Trump: The End of US Democracy – Rise of US Fascism”. (https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/trump-the-end-of-us-democracy-rise-of-us-fascism/) When I wrote that essay I felt that on my internal doomsday fascism clock, we were at 1928 in what would become Nazi Germany. Today we are in 1932 and coming close to 1933 when Hitler officially became chancellor of Germany.

Bob Woodward’s new book, “War”, brings this home to us starkly and frighteningly. His portrayal of Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley calling Trump “the most dangerous person ever” and “fascist to the core” is a huge reminder of what is truly at stake in this upcoming election. Trump’s recent interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News is another reminder of the dark and dangerous mindset that is at the core of Donald Trump when he said that the military should be deployed against the “enemy from within” on Election Day. Turning the military against fellow Americans who disagree with the ex-president and his minions is frightening enough but coupling this disturbing image to his calling for the rounding up of millions of “illegal immigrants” and placing them into concentration and deportation camps should send major warning vibes to Americans in general and specifically to American Jews.
America and the American Jewish community of the 1930s ignored, made fun of, and generally did not believe Adolph Hitler’s rhetoric until it was too late. I am saying that we are in the last few moments of my internal doomsday fascism clock. After this election, it may be too late to stop what is happening.

I am writing this essay for American Jewish voters in the US and Israel to consider as you vote. This essay may be late for some of you who have already voted, but I am giving it a try anyway. The 2024 Pew study said that 69% of American Jews identify with the Democratic Party and 29% identify with the Republican Party. (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters/)

The Jewish vote in key battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan could be the tipping point in such a close election. Interestingly, Florida could also be in play if the Jewish vote swings higher for Democrats than it usually does. That is why the Jewish Republican Committee and Elon Musk are pushing so hard to try and convince Jewish voters that Trump is better in support of Israel than Harris. The reality is the opposite. Let’s start with the much-touted Trump move of the US embassy to Jerusalem. What the Republicans ignore is that the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995, calling for the US Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, which was originally passed under President Bill Clinton. The law included a six-month waiver which was used by Clinton, Bush, and Obama to delay the move. Trump signed the waiver. But it was the Biden and Harris administration that carried out the official move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Trump takes credit for the Abraham Accords which he has declared made peace in the Middle East. This statement is patently false on many levels. First, the groundwork setting the Abraham Accords in place was done by the Israelis themselves reaching out to the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan. The concept behind the Accords was developed under Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ambassador Dore Gold over 10 years of quiet diplomacy and sharing of Israeli intelligence, technology, health care, science, and military support. Just as the hard work of getting Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to sign a peace agreement was done primarily by the Israelis and Egyptians with the US under President Carter jumping in at the very end; so too did the Trump administration jump in at the end to pull things together through the work of Avi Berkowitz, Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt and US Ambassador David Friedman. What Republicans do not say is that the Biden-Harris administration under Anthony Blinken continued the policy and even strengthened it. It was so important to the Biden-Harris administration that they were nearly at an announcement of Saudi Arabia entering into the Accords when Hamas struck on October 7. Hamas struck Israel in part to stop the Saudis from entering into the Accords.

What the Jewish Republican Committee does not tell you is that the unprecedented rise of antisemitism in the US jumped exponentially from 2015 to 2020 because Trump, himself opened the Pandora’s box by giving a voice to neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and antisemitic trolls from his first campaign through his support during the Charlottesville Nazi march, saying that “there were good people on both sides”.

What Jews who are thinking of supporting Trump forget is that after October 7 it was Biden-Harris who without thought to the political fallout from the political left and antagonism from Netanyahu’s rightwing partners fully embraced Israel and sent naval armadas to the region, replenished Israel’s armaments, provided a coalition of powers to help Israel defend against attacks from Iran and fought back against campus-based anti-Israel and antisemitic actions as well as against legislators and delegates to the Democratic convention aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and other supporters of Hamas. The Democratic Party successfully closed down these groups while at the same time supporting the hostage families. This brave response may indeed cost Harris votes in Michigan.

These actions by the Democrats were so different from the Republicans who gave a platform to white supremacists, antisemites, and even neo-Nazis at their political convention. Republicans refuse to condemn Trump’s continuing flirtation with autocrats including Putin and Xi and fascist dictators like Viktor Orban. Worst of all the Republican Jewish Committee has made a devil’s pact with Christian nationalists who spout support for Israel while continuing to revile Jews and Judaism, who censor books including Holocaust books and books with Jewish content, who support the promotion of Christianity in public schools, so that Haredi and other Orthodox schools and institutions can continue to get school vouchers.

For 60 years now American Jews have had a wonderful run without much of the scourge of antisemitism. We are now entering a new age where the threat of antisemitism will grow unless Trump’s fascist agenda is stopped, and the Republican party recovers from its current xenophobic madness. For Jews on the fence here in the US or Israel or anywhere overseas who still have not made up their minds about who to vote for when you fill out that ballot are you ready to risk the future of democracy? The economy can be fixed or will recover on its own. If we break democracy, it will not be so easy to regain it. Really, how much are you willing to trust a 78-year-old, cognitively impaired, self-absorbed, narcissistic fascist who loves autocratic dictators with the health of our democracy and the future of the world? Be careful how you vote.