Choice is clear: Israel is our friend; antisemites are not

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

And with that statement, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney — the outspoken, Republican and very conservative daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney — did what was expected by some and never thought possible by so many other Americans.

And she is not alone. There are thousands, probably millions, of American political conservatives who will make the same decision, probably for the first time in their lives. They will vote for the Constitution of the United States and against the only president who has demonstrated not only his disdain for our most revered governing precepts but his contempt for those who would “protect and defend” our foundational document, up to and including his own vice president, Mike Pence.

In contrast, this past week in Las Vegas the Republican Jewish Coalition met to advance its agenda which, for the most part, was to create back in the mid-’80s some positive relationships with the GOP regarding Jewish and Israeli causes.

At that time, pro-Jewish and Israeli sentiment had been almost the exclusive province of the Democrats. So, that was a good idea. But times change. That’s the way of the world. And human beings do their best to adapt to those changes.

This past week, the RJC listened to speaker after speaker — ostensibly to focus on the outrageous rise of antisemitism in America and on its college campuses — who berated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for both being soft on Hamas and too hard on Israeli leadership during the Gaza war.

So what started as a coalition of the willing to do all they could to protect and defend Jews and Jewish values in America and around the world has morphed into an all-out effort to convince Jewish voters that Joe Biden — now Kamala Harris — are bad for Israel and for them. And, conversely, that Donald Trump is good for the Jews.

Of course, most Americans know better.

That is not to say that Vice President Harris won’t have to make it abundantly clear sometime soon that the murderers of Iran-backed Hamas must be “brought to justice” (define that how you will) and the hostages must be released.

She has already told us in no uncertain terms that the antisemitism on college campuses and in our streets have no place in America. Good for her.

And she has come reasonably close regarding Hamas but, especially in the wake of the assassinations of Israeli and American hostages in the tunnels of Gaza this month, she needs to do it without equivocation if she wants to get most of what has traditionally been the “Jewish” vote this November. That means making the clear choice: choosing Israel and the Jewish people as our friend and antisemitic marchers as not our friends.

That’s what the Republican Jewish Coalition should have been hearing this past week. Instead, they heard political talking points and pandering from Trump loyalists and once-proud GOP members. Welcome to change in America.

I have a different idea for a coalition.

I believe that Jewish voters — and all voters — should join principled conservatives like Liz Cheney in a coalition dedicated to the proposition that Israel is our friend; Israel is our steadfast ally in the Middle East; and Israel deserves full, unqualified American support to survive and thrive in that most difficult and dangerous part of the world in which it lives.

And that coalition will also understand that who leads Israel is an Israeli decision; how it makes peace with its neighbors is an Israeli decision; and how it defends itself against murderous, immoral thugs who seek its destruction is an Israeli decision.

Just look at the Israeli streets this past week. Those folks can handle their own democracy, as noisy and messy as it is.

America’s decision should be whether to support our friend and ally. And if we do that, how to do it in the way good friends do.

And for that to happen, both Republicans and Democrats need to fully understand what’s at stake. That is why the Jewish community needs friends on both sides of the political aisle — all the time. It needs friends who will listen and learn, push back when needed and stand with us when required.