By Robin M. Itzler February 29, 2024 @ American Thinker
With a growing Hamas wing in the Democrat party, Republican Jews are frequently asked why so many Jews remain Democrats. In the 2020 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received a paltry 30 percent of the Jewish vote, although he is recognized as being the most pro-Israel president ever. We will know in November if Jews finally join other traditional Democrat constituents (such as blacks and Hispanics) who are telling pollsters they plan to vote red.
On February 26, American Thinker Senior Editor Andrea Widburg wrote about a promising poll showing a seismic voting shift with New York Jews. However, in the days and weeks following the internationally recognized terror organization Hamas’ barbaric attack, Israel found more support from American Christians than from American Jews.
From entertainment to academia to government, too many well-known Democrat Jews were silent. For example, the internationally famous director Steven Spielberg was quiet for nearly two months, ignoring pleas to make a statement. In contrast, American Christian pastors and leaders immediately denounced the attack on innocent civilians and declared their support for the Jewish state.
The short answer is that many liberal Jews are like Bernie Sanders, i.e., born to Jewish parents—and that’s the end of the story. They do not identify with their Jewish heritage or religion, and even less with Israel. A recent incident convinces me that some Jews might even be on a cultural suicide mission.
Image: Jews for Palestine take to the streets. YouTube screen grab.
In February, I attended a “Stand with Israel” luncheon. Whenever I am invited to Jewish and/or pro-Israel events, I always ask at least one Christian friend to come as my guest. At the luncheon, one of my three friends was Denice Gary-Pandol, a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Her in-depth understanding of Middle East issues is among the many reasons she is frequently sought after to speak on strategic issues facing the United States.
The ballroom was filled with Israel supporters, reflecting how the vicious October 7 Hamas slaughter has forced Jews to rethink “Never Again.” Having former Israeli Ambassador (and American-born) Michael Oren as the guest speaker also generated immense interest.
Following the delicious kosher lunch, we sat spellbound as Oren shared what was happening inside the Jewish state, now fighting for its survival. Oren, who has previously worked with the White House, Congress, and the CIA on crucial strategic issues, including the Iron Dome defense system and the Iran nuclear threat, told us the good, the bad, and the ugly…but it was still a positive conversation.
Then, it was time for questions. Many hands went up, and the first question was from a gentleman seated at my table. During lunch chatter with Gary-Pandol, he had shared that he was a Democrat.
Was this Jewish Democrat’s question about Israelis who had been raped, mutilated, injured, kidnapped, or killed on October 7? Did he want an update on the hostage situation? Did this Jewish Democrat focus on Israel winning its fight for survival while Joe Biden is more interested in winning Arab votes in Michigan?
Of course not! His diatribe, booed by some, was centered on how the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had destroyed most of Gaza’s infrastructure and homes. He had the chutzpah to claim that IDF’s actions explained the rise in anti-Semitism. He closed by asking, “Was the Gaza destruction necessary?”
Just another ignorant Democrat Jew! No better than the Jewish Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others in the Biden White House who might be saying “Israel” but are clearly thinking “Michigan.”
This ill-informed Democrat Jew didn’t say one word about why Israel was in Gaza demolishing its infrastructure and homes. It’s as if Israel decided one bright October morning to destroy Gaza. Like so many oblivious Democrat Jews, he wasn’t concerned about the almost 1,500 Israelis who were mutilated, raped, tortured, burned, kidnapped, or murdered on October 7. Nor did he care about the tens of thousands of rockets that have landed in Israel since October 7. Instead, it was several minutes of, “Oh, the poor Palestinians!”
The ambassador swiftly disagreed and then sought other questions, recognizing my hand.
Pointing to the Democrat Jew who had more sympathy for destroyed homes in Gaza than destroyed lives in Israel, I said:
In my capacity as a newsletter editor and columnist, where almost everyone knows I am Jewish, the question I am always asked is why are there so many Democrat Jews who are more concerned about Hamas terrorists and the Gaza people who support these terrorists than they are about Israel? Why are there so many Jews like this man belching their concern for terrorists who want to kill Jews and Christians? I’m always asked these questions.
Israel and America are in this hellish situation of terrorist escalations around the world because the pro-Iran Democrat Obama and Biden administrations have financially supported the diabolical Tehran regime. They have the blood of October 7 on their hands—not that Obama or Biden seem to care about dead Jews.
Denice Gary-Pandol, the California candidate for U.S. Congress, added to the discussion:
As Israel continues to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States in the War against Islamic terrorism, are Prime Minister Netanyahu and the People of Israel, blaming or at the very least concerned that President Biden and the Democrats in control of the United States Senate have so enriched Iran, thereby empowering the Islamic Republic to initiate a proxy war against Israel through HAMAS, the Islamic Resistance Movement in Gaza, in the South, through Hezbollah, the Party of God in Lebanon in the North, and Al Qaeda and other Palestinian groups in Jordan and through the Houthis in Yemen?
We know this enrichment of our joint adversaries is true in light of the fact that despite federal law that forbids the U.S. government from funding Palestinians in light of their pay-to-slay policies, Biden immediately began funding Palestinian groups including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief Works Agency that teaches children’s hands to war and that advocates for and furthers institutionalized racism and then proceeded to embolden the Islamic Republic by failing to snap back into place the crippling economic sanctions on the sale of oil and gas and military equipment to our adversaries and released billions in aid to Iran.
While Israel is in a war for survival, the Democrat party’s focus is on surviving the re-election of pro-Iran Joe Biden, an elderly man with memory loss issues. An old man who needs cheat notes to talk to friends, needs help getting off a stage after incoherent speeches, and must frequently be reminded where he is.
From Tehran to Boston, from Amman to Manhattan, we hear loud, angry chants: “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Yet, Democrats, and specifically its Jewish members, ignore the threats. The 2024 presidential election must see a sizable shift of Jews voting with their hearts and minds for Republican candidates up and down the ballot.
In the early 1930s, German Jews ignored loud, angry Nazi chants. They erroneously believed it was just political noise that would eventually die down after the election. What died were six million Jews.
Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
