Did Israel determine the US presidential election?

Part 7: American Jews’ Changing Relationship with the Democratic Party

By Bonnie K. Goodman, BA, MLIS

Journalists, scholars, political scientists, historians, and sociologists have been analyzing American Jewish politics. President George Washington promised Jews political equality. Since the Second World War and the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, modern scholars have been debating the Jewish devotion to the Democratic Party and whether the Republicans can capture more Jewish voters. Every election cycle leads to a deeper analysis. However, with Trump resounding victory with a sweep of the presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives after a decisive loss in 2020 and the October 7 attacks and subsequent outburst of anti-Semitism, analysts are hoping a political realignment might happen at the minimum; they believe the Jewish love affair with the Democrats is waning.

After the Democratic National Convention, Yardena Schwartz, a journalist who authored “Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine that Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” wrote the op-ed, “Are American Jews losing their long-standing political home in the Democratic Party?” Schwartz argued the Democratic Party faces challenges in garnering the support of American Jews, a demographic that has traditionally backed Democrats in significant proportions. Schwartz believes that the aftermath of October 7, 2023, is the primary cause. Schwartz asserts that an increase in antisemitic attacks since October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, has sparked growing concerns among Jews about their safety in the country, making this election particularly noteworthy. Republicans are convinced that the time has come for them to secure the Jewish vote, as they seem to prioritize their agenda over democratic institutions, reproductive rights, and the rule of law. [1]

According to Schwartz, Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as Trump’s likely opponent for the presidency, with misleading narratives positioning her as an adversary of Israel and the Jewish community. Trump has consistently demonstrated that he is not a genuine ally of Israel or the Jewish community, openly criticizing Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their inability to thwart Hamas’ incursion and labeling Hezbollah as “smart.” Biden and Netanyahu have navigated a complex relationship for years, yet they now face diminishing options as their interests diverge and their political futures become increasingly precarious. [2]

The intense anti-Israel demonstrations over the past ten years have sparked worries regarding the impact of far-right ideologies on American Jewish communities. A white nationalist who subscribed to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory perpetrated the most lethal assault on Jews in U.S. history in 2018. Supporters of neo-Nazi ideologies rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, shouting, “Jews will not replace us.” Since October 7, the backing of the Democratic Party by the Jewish community has faced unprecedented scrutiny, with 89% of American Jews reporting a rise in antisemitism and 60% expressing discomfort in openly practicing their faith. The relationship between the Democratic Party and the Jewish community has been complex but it is likely to persist, especially given the available alternatives. [3]

In the aftermath, John Podhoretz wrote “Let’s Begin Talking About the Jewish Vote” in the pages of Commentary. Podhoretz argued that for many years, conservative and Republican Jews have been anticipating a greater alignment with their fellow co-religionists, especially as members of the liberal intelligentsia and policymakers express growing criticism or hostility toward Israel, while also showing indifference or even contributing to a broader animosity towards more Orthodox Jewish communities. American Jews have largely embraced the notion that their liberal values and support for liberal candidates at the polls can fulfill their Jewish responsibilities. The apparent resolution to this issue appeared to be an analysis of demographic trends over time. This suggests that those who uphold traditional values and maintain a daily connection to both oral and written law will increasingly characterize the Jewish landscape in America as secular Jews engage in intermarriage and distance themselves from their faith and community.[4]

Podhoretz believes that the process of Jews moving toward voting Republican will take generations to unfold. Over the past 13 months, American Jews have endured harassment and threats, seen their ancestral homeland labeled as a settler colonial genocidal state, and witnessed mistreatment of Jewish students on college campuses. Podhertz indicated that he acknowledged the criticisms of Israel’s self-defense measures, the administration’s silence regarding anti-Semitic attacks, and the reluctance of college presidents to denounce the treatment of Jews and Jewish subjects within their institutions. Podhoretz already noticed initial evidence from the election indicating a notable shift in the Jewish vote compared to previous elections, with a change ranging from 10 to 40 percent overall. Quantifying such matters presents significant challenges due to the small population size, the difficulty in isolating them within broader surveys, and the complexities involved in defining their characteristics. Nonetheless, it is evident that the Jewish community played a crucial part in the shift of the county’s political trajectory.[5]

Conclusion

In the end, Harris’s inability to take a decisive position on either side cost her the election, more Arab votes, and fewer Jewish votes, but enough to lose Pennsylvania and Michigan. Despite garnering a majority of the Jewish vote in Pennsylvania, Harris’s failure to select Governor Shapiro and uphold President Biden’s steadfast support for Israel cost her the election. She lacked Trump’s record with Israel, which included a close relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the rightful Israeli capital as a means of compensating for his courtship of the Arab vote. Trump played both sides and managed to win. Despite the influence of numerous other factors, Harris underestimated the importance of the views of the Jewish population in the US becoming more varied; so too will their voting patterns, and Democrats cannot continue to assume that no matter what they say, American Jews will blindly vote for them.

Sources

Wald, Kenneth D. “Politics of American Jews. By Herbert F. Weisberg. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2019. 296 Pp. $80.00 Hardcover (Forthcoming as E-Book).” Politics and Religion 12, no. 4 (2019): 770–73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048319000415.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-26/jewish-democrat-republican-election-2024-kamala-harris-donald-trump-israel-gaza

[2] https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-26/jewish-democrat-republican-election-2024-kamala-harris-donald-trump-israel-gaza

[3] https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-26/jewish-democrat-republican-election-2024-kamala-harris-donald-trump-israel-gaza

[4] https://www.commentary.org/john-podhoretz/lets-begin-talking-about-the-jewish-vote/

[5] https://www.commentary.org/john-podhoretz/lets-begin-talking-about-the-jewish-vote/

Bonnie K. Goodman, BA, MLIS, is a historian, librarian, journalist, and artist. She is pursuing an MA in Jewish Education at the Melton Centre of Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of the recently released “On This Day in History…: Significant Events in the American Year,” and “A Constant Battle: McGill University’s Complicated History of Antisemitism and Now anti-Zionism.” She has a BA in History and Art History and a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University. She has done graduate work in Jewish history at Concordia University as part of the MA in Judaic Studies, where she focused on Medieval and Modern Judaism. Her research area is North American Jewish history, and her thesis was entitled “Unconditional Loyalty to the Cause: Southern Whiteness, Jewish Women, and Antisemitism, 1860–1913.” Ms. Goodman has been researching and writing about antisemitism in North American Jewish History, and she has reported on the current antisemitic climate and anti-Zionism on campus for over fifteen years.

She is also the author of among others, “Silver Boom! The Rise and Decline of Leadville, Colorado as the United States Silver Capital, 1860–1896” (2008), “On This Day in the History… Of American Independence Significant Events in the Revolutionary Era, 1754–1812” (2020), and “We Used to be Friends? The Long Complicated History of Jews, Blacks, and Antisemitism” (2020). She contributed the overviews and chronologies to the “History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008,” edited by Gil Troy, Arthur M. Schlesinger, and Fred L. Israel (2012). She is the former Features Editor at the History News Network and reporter at Examiner.com, where she covered politics, universities, religion, and news. She currently blogs at Medium, where she was a top writer in history, and regularly writes an “On This Day in History (#OTD in #History)” Feature. Her scholarly articles can be found on Academia.edu.