Spare Me Lectures on Antisemitism

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I never thought I’d ever be saying this, but Thank You Progressives! You’ve done what those of us on the right or center or even center left haven’t been able to do…you’ve silenced Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Sen. Schumer likes to fancy himself a shomer, which in Hebrew means “guardian,” of the Jewish people and Israel. He boasted about this in his appearances at rallies for Israel and the return of hostages last year and in his address to Congress. He obviously has a high opinion of himself. But the reality is that his behavior indicates the complete opposite. A better word to describe him would be the Yiddish word Chutzpahdik (having a lot of nerve, and not in a good way). But as the first Jewish Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America ever, he has been a disappointment to many Jewish citizens.

Until a few days ago, Schumer was planning to promote himself as a guardian of the Jews in America by promoting his new book Anti-Semitism in America: A Warning.

Ironically, the only reason he has postponed his book tour, is not because of opposition from the right, from those who are aware of how he has undermined and even contributed to hurting his people, but from the left for voting to approve the Congressional budget. So cancelling his tour had nothing to do with the contents of his book, but with the members of his own party who believe they should fight Trump about everything. So for that I am grateful, even, I’ll admit it, giddy with delight.

Following is a short list of what this man who has the chutzpah to write about antisemitism, (I prefer the more accurate term “Jew Hate”), has done:

At the height of anti-Zionist protests on college campuses last year, Schumer reportedly said that university presidents should “ride out” these demonstrations that were harming Jewish students, because only Republicans cared. He advised former Columbia University Present Minouche Shafik: “the best strategy is to keep heads down.”

Even worse, back in March of 2024, a year ago, as Majority Leader, Sen. Schumer gave a major address to Congress in which he called on Israel to hold elections. Let me repeat, he advised a foreign country, our ally, to take down their duly-elected prime minister and to put in place someone more aligned with his own “values.”

He dug down on his belief in a “two state solution,” even though most Israelis, including those on the left, had given up on this pipe dream, post October 7.

I reread his rather lengthy address and it was painful. He tried so mightily to balance his compassion for Palestinians with his compassion for his own people:

My heart also breaks at the loss of so many civilian lives in Gaza. I am anguished that the Israeli war campaign has killed so many innocent Palestinians. I know that my fellow Jewish Americans feel this same anguish when they see the images of dead and starving children and destroyed homes.

We should not let the complexities of this conflict stop us from stating the plain truth: Palestinian civilians do not deserve to suffer for the sins of Hamas, and Israel has a moral obligation to do better. The United States has an obligation to do better.

He claimed that Prime Minister Netnayahu was one of the major obstacles to peace:

Now if Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change present course.

This is what Schumer believes. That Americans with his views should be dictating to Israels how to conduct their existential war.

The reaction to this address was somewhat negative, but he never retracted anything.

Next this self-proclaimed authority on antisemitism dragged his heals on bringing to the Senate floor acts that would help Israel, among them the Antisemitism Awareness Act, the Deterrent Act (expands oversight and disclosure requirements related to foreign sources and institutions of higher education), and the Forfeit Tax Exempt Status Act that would suspend the tax-exempt status of terrorist-supporting organizations. Kind of ironic that a man who writes a book about the dangers of antisemitism doesn’t bring to the Senate floor bills that would help eliminate antisemitism.

As Senate minority leader, he voted against the ICC (International Criminal Courts) Sanctions Act alongside all other Democrats save for John Fetterman. The ICC had issued arrest warrants for top Israeli officials last year.

So forgive me when I gloat a bit about the Democrats’ sense of outrage and betrayal that Schumer passed a funding bill proposed by the Republican-dominated House and Senate. I’ll accept whatever it takes to frog walk him out the door.