Schumer the Shomer Silent When Democrats Invoke Dual Loyalty

Throughout his career Senator Chuck Schumer has reminded audiences that his name . . .” comes from the word shomer, guardian, watcher. … And I believe Hashem [Orthodox for God] actually gave me that name. One of my roles, very important in the United States Senate, is to be a shomer – to be a or the shomer Yisrael. And I will continue to be that with every bone in my body.”  (Where does he rank compared to the newly anointed King of Israel, Donald Trump?)

Yet Schumer’s recent Tweet claiming President Donald Trump recently accused American Jews of dual loyalty is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the growing number of Democrat politicians and Progressive talking heads that are anti-Israel, pro-BDS and engage in dual loyalty tropes themselves.

Schumer stated: “To my fellow American Jews, particularly those who support @realDonaldTrump: When he uses a trope that’s been used against the Jewish people for centuries with dire consequences, he is encouraging—wittingly or unwittingly—anti-Semites throughout the country and world. Enough.”

To recap, Trump used an Oval Office photo session to express amazement that after Tlaib and Omar’s antics, and the failure of their fellow Democrats to reign them in or criticize their actions, American Jews were still mostly voting Democrat: “Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone, where they’re defending these two people over the state of Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

It was pretty clear to anyone the understands the English language (or at least the President’s elliptical use of it) that Trump meant how can Jews continue to vote Democrat when Tlaib and Omar’s anti-Israel stance has taken root in that party.  You have to be dumber than as a house plant to claim Trump said Americans Jews were disloyal to America.  Or Washington Post columnist named Philip Bump.  But I repeat myself.

It was after “Trump is an anti-Semite” meme started by Bump spread that Schumer tweeted his comments.

In the past, Schumer has been true to his self-assigned shomer role. At AIPAC this spring, Schumer denounced Ilhan Omar and said When someone says being Jewish and supporting Israel means you’re not loyal to America, we must call it out!”

Yet Schumer was silent when the dual loyalty canard was raised by Ted Lieu,  another Democrat Congressman:

Dear @USAmbIsrael: You are an American. Your allegiance should be to America, not to a foreign power. You should be defending the right of Americans to travel to other countries. If you don’t understand that, then you need to resign.”

Lieu apologized for that tweet and deleted it.  But he continued to make the same accusation on CNN as he was interviewed by anchor Wolf Blitzer. “He doesn’t seem to understand that his allegiance is to America, not to a foreign power,” Lieu told Blitzer, saying that Friedman should have been fighting for Omar and Tlaib to have the right to enter Israel, despite Israeli law.

Lieu’s statements reflect a desire among some congressional Democrats to have the State Department Inspector General investigate Ambassador Friedman because he” issued a public statement defending Israel’s decision on Thursday, citing the country’s laws against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

Schumer was silent as Lieu let loose on Ambassador Friedman. He was silent when Omar and Tlaib’s connections to MIFTAH, a group that supports terrorism against Israel were made clear.  He has been silent as House Democrats contemplate how to punish Friedman for what they appear to perceive as dual loyalty.

Since our political discourse has degenerated to “What about the other guy” charges and countercharges, let me state for the record that it sure would have been more than nice if Prime Minister Netanyahu had reminded everyone that support for Israel is bipartisan.  But that’s changing and for the most part, that’s because as political scientist Zach Goldberg has pointed out,  American politics has rapidly moved left, undermining  Democrat support for Israel in the process.    As Daniel Gordis wrote on this site yesterday: More American Jews view Israel “exclusively through a narrow political lens, comparing Israel’s comportment to what we would expect of the United States. That approach will doom us.”

The Trump- Tlaib/Omar spat is silly, not substantive.  Yet, it reflects how quickly opposing Israel and supporting BDS has become a “bullshit purity test” for so-called Progressives.  As the conservative site Red State observed: we’ve gone from formally condemning  the BDS movement just a few weeks/months ago in solidarity with the Jewish community to considering attempts at punishing Jewish ambassadors over Israel’s decision to bar Omar and Tlaib from country – because they were going to use their trip to amplify the anti-Semitic BDS movement.”

Schumer the Shomer has either ignored the warp speed shift of the Democrat party or he has decided that giving anti-Semites and Israel haters a pass is the politically prudent path. Regardless, his silence is troubling for Israel and American Jews.