Careless Jews

If you are a pro-Israel progressive Jew living in a Blue State like New York or California, or if you live in a Red State like Florida or Texas, then you can carelessly vote for Kamala Harris. Your vote won’t affect the Electoral College tally. You can ignore Israel’s dire situation, and you can allow your hatred for former President Trump to blind you to the head-to-head comparison of the two candidate’s records and statements regarding Israel.

Non-battleground state Jews can even ignore nominee vice president Kamala Harris’s cadre of anti-Israel advisors, and you can pretend she won’t fall under the control of Israel-hating, Iran-placating Barack Obama. You can tolerate her equivocating with “…and how it does so matters” fine-print regarding Israel’s right to defend herself. You can even accept her sympathizing with pro-Palestinian protestors. You can even accommodate her obsession with a two-state solution.

But if you are a pro-Israel Democratic Party Jew in battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada or Michigan, you must make a painful choice. Donald Trump’s style certainly may be off-putting, and his Conservative platform may contain policies with which you vehemently disagree. But these battleground state Jews should hold their noses and choose what is best for an Israel.

Israel, like never before, is under existential attack, and it must have a strong, determined partner in America led by a reliable president. If these battleground state Jews are, in fact, actively pro-Israel, then this is their moment to make a sacrifice.

If these Jews are indifferent about Israel or have been distracted by the cacophony of media driven anti-Trump bias or if they are “intersectionality compromised,” then let’s hope they experience an epiphany realizing that they and their family will be affected by Israel’s loss or diminution.  They ought to heed the observation from Holocaust era German historian Joachim Fest about German Jews: “…they lost their instinct for danger.”

The current situation is reminiscent of the famous film The Godfather, where Vito Corleone’s advises his son Michael, the future Don, about the dangers of a complex world, “…Women and children can be careless, but not the men.” Sure, it is politically incorrect, but it conveys the heartfelt admonition that for serious people carelessness is a fatal flaw.

In the recent and brilliant Commentary Magazine article by Seth Mandel, he details the Israel-centric portion of presidential candidate Harris’s resume and her most recent actions. His closing paragraph is clear, “Team Harris is a striking example of a consistent trend in politics. For while Jewish individuals are overrepresented in the ranks of her followers and advisers, Jewish interests are being marginalized—and those overrepresented Jews are there in part or in whole to provide cover for that marginalization.”

For these battleground state Jews, they shouldn’t be romanced by the niceties of Kamala’s Jewish husband Doug Emhoff. His Hanukkah candle lighting and hanging a mezuzah are not policies. He will not demand respect for the complex history of modern Israel. This “feel good” smoke screen tries to obscure a “pragmatic” disguise of her far-Left policies and associates.

The cast of anti-Israel Obama advisors who are likely to influence the Oval Office are almost too numerous to mention. The Financial Times wrote about the important voice of Philp Gordon, “Gordon was instrumental in crafting [Harris’s] more sympathetic tone for the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.” The aforementioned Commentary article added, “Gordon’s faults go deeper than tone. In 2007, he published a book-length critique of the War on Terror, Winning the Right War. Part of Gordon’s thesis was that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians was one of the main drivers of global terrorism. As proof, he quotes Osama bin Laden and 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta, thus taking at face value the propaganda they spread that was designed to blame Israel for al-Qaeda’s attacks on the World Trade Center.”

Recently, Harris tapped Ilan Goldenberger as her Jewish outreach liaison. He has a history that includes supporting the JCPOA, opposing both the move of the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and the recognition of the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel. He will work closely with Senator Schumer who earned the contempt of many Jews by his interference in Israel’s sensitive political scene, and those who have heard him claim to be a “guardian” of Israel.  Schumer’s stomach-churning behavior was repeated by Harris when she chose to not attend Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech before Congress.

In an uneven playing field Democrats have employed weaponized lawfare, attempted voter registration expansion fed by migrant fly-ins and illegal border crossings, initiated debunked impeachments, and used apocalyptic rhetoric demonizing Trump that arouse would be assassins. Media’s anti-Trump bias was demonstrated by the deceitful sellout by ABC News at the recent debate. Kamala’s policy flip flops and quickie palace coup are part of the unprincipled, undemocratic 2024 race to White House. Only Trump’s energy and resilience has kept it close.

Let’s pray Trump emerges victorious and we can relegate our fears about a Harris presidency to sweaty, catastrophizing nightmares. If it goes the other way, start to draft “I told you so” emails and file them in a sad, Pyrrhic victory folder.

Your vote for Trump is the opportunity to be on the right side of history.