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Have Jewish fears become mainstream amid the 2024 US elections? – opinion

Posted on by Bobb
Have Jewish fears become mainstream amid the 2024 US elections? – opinion

“Turn your worry into action.”

A phrase that, if not a translation of the Yiddish expression, could very well be the text of an email sent Monday to activists with Jewish Women for Kamala, an interest group organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

That’s the mantra on both sides in the final days of the 2024 presidential election. With most polls showing a statistical tie, Democrats are especially stressed remembering how what seemed like Hillary Clinton’s comfortable lead over Donald Trump disappeared on election night. Republicans are worried too, or at least that’s what their candidate wants. As Trump tells his supporters at his rallies, “If we lose this election, this country will be over.”

As for specifically Jewish sources of concern, the suppression of advertising by Jewish groups on both sides is compelling evidence. In addition to issues that concern ordinary voters (housing, inflation, immigration, reproductive rights, affordable health care), these ads (more likely to be seen on social media than in mainstream markets) focus on specific Jewish issues: anti-Semitism, defending Israel. and, especially among Democrats, fear that a second Trump term would pose a threat to the American democratic norms under which Jews have historically thrived.

The 30-second JDCA video, which began airing Monday, begins with the presenter warning: “This is a difficult time for many American Jews, a time filled with uncertainty. Our choices will impact our families and our democracy for years to come.”

The enemy within?

Fast forward to Trump talking about the “enemy within,” a phrase he uses to describe Democrats like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi and others who opposed or investigated him (and which even a Fox News interviewer called “pretty ominous phrase to use about other Americans”).

The HARRIS campaign needs to win Jewish support in swing states or risk losing the election. Likewise, one path to a Trump victory could be to end Jewish support for Democrats in these critical states. (Photo: Eduardo Muñoz/Nathan Howard/Reuters)

This is the kind of formulation that has led to a debate (recently led by former Trump insiders) about whether populism and Trump’s ideas about presidential power are fascism. in which a Holocaust survivor refutes the idea that Trump is a fascist.

The JDCA ad reinforces the debate with an image of rolling military equipment and Trump’s words that “the military should be able to handle this easily” – part of a longer, rambling quote in which Trump warned about “very bad people… some sick people, radical left lunatics.” .

The ad then addresses Trump’s remarks at a GOP event about anti-Semitism on Sept. 19, when he said, “The Jewish people will be largely to blame for this loss” if the election goes against them.

“Donald Trump openly scapegoats Jews,” the narrator says. “This is anti-Semitism and it is unacceptable,” Harris says.

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The ad then shifts from ominous to optimistic, showing images of Harris lighting a Hanukkah menorah, condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and describing her as “an advocate, a partner and a defender of our community, our freedom and our values.” “

https://twitter.com/USJewishDems/status/1848453343267733754

It’s a rich, succinct ad with the implication that authoritarianism will never benefit Jews, that Trump has dabbled in anti-Semitism, and that Harris is the antidote. It barely mentions Israel, which JDCA’s own polls have shown is not the top concern among Jewish voters in swing states. This distinction belongs to the “future of democracy” (44%), followed by abortion (36%) and inflation and the economy (24%). Israel ranks fourth among them with 16%. (The same poll also showed Harris winning 71% of the Jewish vote in the seven swing states that will likely decide the election.)

Meanwhile, Harris doesn’t even appear in the Democratic Majority for Israel’s final ad. The three-minute video lays out the case against Trump in more detail. It describes him as “a man with a long history of supporting anti-Semites” and name-checks Charlottesville marchers, rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, as well as anti-Semites seen among the crowd during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

It also links Trump to some of his most vocal surrogates, including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, both of whom have promoted conspiracy theories in which Jews regularly play a diabolical role.

Unlike the JDCA ad and its mission statement, the DMFI ad directly addresses Israel, perhaps the only Jewish issue on which Trump and the GOP have an advantage among Jewish voters. The ad claims that Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance are isolationists who would likely “blow up NATO, abandon Ukraine,” as well as Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

“Are we Jews really supposed to believe that this alliance with Israel has a special place in Trump’s heart?” – asks the narrator. “What if the Israelis ditch Bibi and choose someone more centrist? What if the Saudis and Qataris, who are literally funding the Trump family, want something that is contrary to Israeli interests? Will Trump support Israel then?”

There’s something more than just defensive about DFMI’s ad: Rather than making a positive case for Harris, it appears to be appealing to Jewish voters considering moving the lever in Trump’s favor. The DFMI website has a landing page touting Harris’s “strong commitment to Israel’s security and combating the alarming rise of anti-Semitism,” but his closing argument is aimed at the Trump-curious – reflecting both sides’ strategy to sway undecided or undecided voters in This is the last segment of the static campaign.

The Republican Jewish Coalition also appears to have crossed the line with its final ad, which is aimed squarely at longtime Jewish Democrats and Jewish voters who harbor negative feelings toward the former president. The Seinfeldian commercial was filmed (not uncontroversially) at Hymie’s, a Jewish-themed deli in the Philadelphia suburb of Merion Station, and stars three actresses portraying Jewish women of a certain age. Their conversation is meaningful:

Speaker One: Have you watched the news lately? Israel is under attack, there is more anti-Semitism than I ever thought I would see.

Speaker 2: Have you heard about Samantha’s son, Max? He was spat on for simply following this path.

Speaker 1: I mean, it’s scary.

Speaker Three: What about Kamala?

Second speaker (rolls eyes): Uh, busy defending the squad.

Speaker one: Oh, vey. I never liked Trump, but at least he will keep us safe (dramatic pause).

Speaker Two: I have never voted for a Republican in my life. But I vote for Trump.

First and third speakers (raise coffee mugs): Amen.

In a press release promoting what it calls a “historic $15 million ad campaign targeting the Jewish community in key battleground states,” RJC says this latest ad for the 2024 campaign reflects the fear and anxiety felt American Jews across our country as we see Israel still under attack and anti-Semitism here at home skyrocketing to unprecedented levels.”

In addition to seeking to create a permitting structure that would allow never-Trumpers to turn a blind eye and vote for him, the ad also appears to be a reference to “The Great Slap,” a 2009 project in which comedian Sarah Silverman encouraged young Jews to visit their grandmother and grandfather in Florida and convince them to vote for Barack Obama. “We urge Jewish voters to listen to their Bubbies: It’s okay to vote for Donald Trump,” the RJC ad says.

If you go to the websites and social media of each of the Democratic organizations, you can find detailed arguments for their candidates on Israel, the economy, abortion and health care. RJC’s Matt Brooks lays out his organization’s arguments for Trump in more detail in a Washington Reporter article.

But in their closing arguments, partisan Jewish groups argue for the guts. According to Democrats, Trump is coddling anti-Semites and has authoritarian plans for his enemies, the Constitution and the rule of law. He is also a transactional politician with isolationist tendencies and cannot be trusted in Israel.

For Jewish Republicans, Harris is in captivity of the progressive left. They say that for all his faults, “at least” Trump will “keep us safe.”

Closing arguments can shape the course of a campaign in the minds of voters. They can also go unnoticed, especially when events in the days leading up to an election outpace the news cycle. (Trump has a peculiar talent for dominating these cycles, as he has done in recent days with his riff on the size of golfer Arnold Palmer’s genitals and his McDonald’s worker cosplay.) Effective or not, the appeals appeal to Jewish voters. are a reflection of their real concerns ahead of Election Day, which cannot come too soon.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company 70 Faces Media.