July 15, 2024
This piece originally appeared in The Times of Israel.
Over the last nine months, Jewish families have been assaulted at school events, Jewish students harassed and threatened on college campuses, Jewish businesses vandalized, and synagogues put under siege by anti-Israel protesters.
In the wake of Hamas’ brutal massacre on October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, we have seen a staggering rise in antisemitism, including in the form of anti-Zionism. According to the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) 2024 Survey of American Jewish Opinion, 87% of American Jews said antisemitism has increased in the US since the terror attack.
As proud and resilient as American Jews are, the community is also looking to our leaders to not just stand with us in word but also in deed.
As we wade deeper into election season, Democratic and Republican Party leadership are making their priorities and values clear with national and state-level official platforms. Fighting antisemitism must be included.
The legacy of political parties laying out their primary goals, values, and policy principles in official party platforms goes back to the 1840s. Today, platforms are most likely to make news when crafting them prompts an intra-party fight. Yet in a political atmosphere where we see prominent politicians from the same party espousing widely divergent views, these platforms are a clear statement from party leadership.
The Jewish community votes in a proportion that eclipses many other demographics. And, while Jews are not a political monolith and consider many factors when casting a ballot, we know that American Jews are not only deeply attuned to but also affected by rising antisemitism. AJC’s recent Survey of American Jewish Opinion found that 27% of American Jews have hidden or chosen not to disclose their Jewish identity when meeting someone new, and 7% of US Jews have considered leaving America because of antisemitism since the Hamas attack.
Those following this closely would be foolish to believe that the antisemitism we are seeing in American life will simply disappear. Elected officials must seriously confront this problem, starting by naming it outright.
Fighting antisemitism is not and cannot be allowed to become a partisan issue. More than 95% of both Jewish Republicans and Jewish Democrats see antisemitism as a problem. In recent years, we have seen strong bipartisan efforts to address antisemitism like the bicameral Countering Antisemitism Act and powerful initiatives from party leadership – including President Trump’s Executive Order ensuring robust enforcement against antisemitic discrimination and President Biden’s release of the landmark US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. However, both of these laudable steps were taken before the crush of anti-Jewish hate that has wracked the Jewish community since the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel and the ensuing war.
Quite simply: failing to recognize and include antisemitism and the critical need to address it in party platforms is a failure to meet the moment and respond to the needs of the American Jewish community. US political leadership cannot turn a blind eye to this fundamental threat to our American democratic values. When societies cannot protect their Jewish populations, they often fail to protect their democracy as well.
For decades, AJC has offered suggestions to platform drafting committees – including on foreign policy, confronting antisemitism, and upholding democracy here at home and around the world. This year, our suggestions around antisemitism include: embracing a whole-of-government and society response, addressing antisemitism in schools, embracing tools to understand antisemitism, depoliticizing the fight against antisemitism, improving hate crimes reporting, and celebrating Jewish American heritage. The RNC included some of these policies in their platform released last week. We hope to see elected officials back up the stated commitment to combat antisemitism with sound policies and legislation. The DNC must do so, as well.
To show the American Jewish community that they are true allies in this fight, the parties must name antisemitism as the fundamental threat that it is and act with the necessary urgency to combat it.
