Jewish Leaders Must Disrupt the Circle of Antisemitism

Early last Friday morning, a Hebrew language media channel called The Radar posted a short video interview on X with Steve Bannon.  “The people of Israel got to understand something,” Bannon said. “The number one enemy to the people in Israel are American Jews that do not support Israel and do not support MAGA. MAGA and the evangelical Christians and the traditional Catholics in this country have Israel’s back…”

“The biggest single enemy to the Jewish people are not the Islamic supremacists,” Bannon declared. “The biggest enemy you have is inside the wire: progressive Jewish billionaires that are funding all this stuff.  They are the number one enemy, and the people of Israel have to set them right.”

Bannon would like “the people of Israel and American Jews” to forget that he’s an antisemite by declaring that he and his far-right friends “have Israel’s back.” He exploits Jewish fears by creating a false dichotomy that labels uncritical supporters of Israel as “good” and Jewish critics of Israel as “bad.”

For Bannon, “good” Jews are considered part of the club and worthy of protection and “bad” Jews are considered enemies. It’s a dangerous strategy that Bannon uses to build credibility for far-right policies that not only contradict the beliefs of most Jewish Americans but also put Jews at risk.

Bannon’s ideas about Jews derive from the same conspiracy theories that fueled the murderous attacks at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and others. But these are not just ideas. Bannon’s rant went beyond the antisemitic tropes he and other Trump associates consistently evoke.

Bannon’s provocation, mere hours after he raised a Nazi-like salute at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), was a call to action. He wasn’t only targeting his favorite scapegoat, George Soros – who once received a package containing a pipe bomb and a photograph of himself marked with a red “X.”  Bannon was broadening his scope of attack to include millions of Jews who support Democrats and progressive causes.

I remember vividly how Itzhak Rabin’s murderer, Yigal Amir, manipulated Jewish law to justify his assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister.  Amir interpreted Din Rodef (the Law of the Pursuer) to mean that he had an obligation to kill someone who represents an imminent threat to another Jew’s life, a threat he believed was posed by the Oslo Accords.

How long before a deranged right-wing fanatic, whether American or Israeli, invokes similar twisted logic to target the “American Jewish billionaires” whom Bannon has branded as enemies?

And how long before the leaders of our legacy organizations unequivocally cry out in outrage against the antisemitism and incitement perpetrated and enabled by Bannon, Musk, and others in Trump’s circle of friends and advisors?  After Oslo, we heard from courageous voices like then-national director of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman, who warned that “irresponsible and inflammatory opposition leads to irresponsible and inflammatory action.”  Where are those voices now?

The leader of one important legacy organization, the Jewish Council for Public Affair’s Amy Spitalnick, has repeatedly and clearly spoken out against the alarming antisemitism in and around the Trump administration. And, yes, we sometimes hear from other organizations about these dangers, like ADL’s statement condemning Bannon’s salute.

But occasional statements aren’t not enough.  Why didn’t the Conference of Presidents, whose leader has spoken about the close relationships many Jewish leaders have with the administration, call on President Trump to use his own CPAC speech to distance himself from his friend and advisor Bannon?  Indeed, how can any Jewish leader express support or admiration for this administration while it enables and instrumentalizes antisemitism?

This is not about who represents the Jewish community or whose policies are better for Jews.  There are very real and legitimate differences within our community, and it is important that we conduct an open debate about critical issues.  But this is not about policy. This is about safety.

The silence is deafening. It’s dangerous. We need all our leaders to speak out against rhetoric and disrupt the circle of antisemitism that threatens Jewish lives.  Now.