A year after the horrific October 7th attacks on Israel by the terror group Hamas, Jews around the world are still reeling from the antisemitic backlash it has inspired and unleashed. American Jews especially see it on their streets, campuses and in the public discourse. Although Jews living in America were not direct victims of the attacks, the vitriolic reactions of many progressives to the events of that day will remain a scar upon American Jewry for months, maybe even years to come.
High holiday dinner tables were filled with talk about an awakening, a new, post-Holocaust world in which we all must stay vigilant. The American Jewish community is, perhaps for the first time, alive to the fact that we can’t rely on anyone else to protect us, even the hallowed cultural and political institutions we helped build. Still, the 2024 presidential election looms large in our minds. Jews have historically voted for the Democratic party, but our abandonment at the hands of progressives over the last year has left a sour taste in the mouths of many.
Adam Milstein, an outspoken critic of the progressives when it comes to the antisemitism that has been steadily creeping into the left wing of the Democratic party, reminds us that “[n]o longer can the Democratic Party blindly count on the Jewish vote.” In an article for The Washington Times, Milstein makes a case for why the left has taken Jews for granted, and why Jews shouldn’t be so quick to hand them their vote.
Milstein is an American of Israeli descent who has been on the frontlines in the fight against antisemitism for decades. After serving in the IDF during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1981 to pursue a career in commercial real estate. In 2000, he and his wife Gila wanted to make a greater impact in the Jewish community, so they founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Since then, it has been consistent and successful in its mission to support a robust network of organizations that work to strengthen American values, combat bigotry and hatred in all forms and support the U.S.-Israel alliance. The Milstein Family Foundation works closely with nonprofits such as Alums for Campus Fairness and Combat Antisemitism Movement which do vital work to combat the antisemitic forces that have grown stronger on the political left in recent years.
Milstein’s longtime advocacy gives him a sharp perspective on where American politics stands in terms of Jews and the safety of the state of Israel. “The United States has always been an important ally of the State of Israel,” he writes. “As American Jews, we expected an unequivocal condemnation of these horrific acts of violence from leaders across the political spectrum. But that did not happen.” Instead, the progressive left “turned a blind eye.”
This was not just a disappointment, but a visceral shock to many Jewish Americans. “From supporting the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s to fighting for LGBTQ rights to supporting critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education, liberal American Jews have often been at the front lines of promoting progressive causes,” Milstein argues. Throughout the decades, Jews have displayed an ironclad commitment to supporting and voting for civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and more. However, when the Jewish American Community needed support from these communities, “our political leaders and fellow activists turned their backs on us.” More than that, we were called oppressors, colonizers and supporters of genocide. This reached a fever pitch in the spring of 2024 during the antisemitic campus protests on many elite American universities, in which campus administrators were unable or unwilling to protect Jewish students.
Despite this, a recent poll shows that Vice President Kamala Harris has 71% of the Jewish vote in seven swing states. This is consistent with a poll from September 2024 that showed “Harris leading Trump among Jews 68%-25%, and 72% to 25% in a head-to-head race.” With the majority of Jews still committed to supporting and voting for the Democratic party, how can we ensure the Democratic party will support the Jewish community?
First and foremost, says Milstein, Jews must push back on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) measures and strategies that have been implemented in universities, workplaces, even high schools. Elite universities serve as ground zero for the left-wing antisemitism that filters out into our major cultural and political institutions, such as journalism, publishing and government. In principle, Milstein says that CRT and DEI initiatives were “supposed to foster inclusive environments that welcome those of all racial and religious backgrounds.” However, they have been “used by the radical left to create an ‘us vs. them’ mentality and promote victimhood. DEI and CRT adherents welcome minorities, but only ‘the right kind’ of minorities.”
These left-wing frameworks have “allowed antisemites to come out of the shadows under the guise of righteousness, and it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent.” Many Jews have already stopped supporting or donating to universities that refuse to condemn the antisemitism that proliferates so easily on their campuses. Many lawsuits have been filed against universities where Jewish students felt not just discriminated against, but under threat. This is a good start, but Milstein believes “we need to take the fight to the political arena.”
It will be up to each individual Jewish voter to decide where their priorities lie on November 5th. Should the Democratic party emerge victorious, those who gave them their vote will need to ensure their elected officials are serving their best interests, and the interests of the country, by condemning and combatting antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head. Jews should expect nothing less.
