Hate From Both Sides

Over the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency, we devoted a significant amount of time and attention to the growing animosity toward Israel on the political left. The challenges became even more apparent after Oct. 7, as increasing numbers of Democratic politicians and progressive activists aggressively spoke out against the Jewish state and its people. Biden himself was the target of angry criticism from those in his own party for his continued allegiance to Israel, and Kamala Harris struggled throughout her abbreviated campaign to address the issue in a way that reassured her party’s base. 

Weeks after Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, we are now receiving frequent and unsettling reminders that neither of our major political parties has a monopoly on anti-Zionism or antisemitism. But just as the anti-Israel voices in the Democratic Party were especially relevant during Biden’s time in the White House, the return of a Republican president means that those same repulsive sentiments will have increased influence in his administration. In both cases, we see a president exerting minimal effort to push back against these forces from within their own party. It does not appear that Trump will be any more successful than his predecessor in neutralizing them.

Case in point: Michael DiMino IV was recently confirmed as Trump’s deputy assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, an odd position for someone who has been quoted saying that the U.S. does not have any critical interests in the Middle East. DiMino has also stated that “vital or existential threats” in the region are “best characterized as minimal to nonexistent,” and that the U.S. role in the region has not provided any benefits. He is on record describing Iran’s missile attack on Israel last year as “fairly moderate” and suggesting that it was not designed to cause real damage.

New Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson has compared the murders of Israeli infants on October 7 to abortion and repeatedly opposed sending U.S. military aid to Israel during the Gaza war. She argues against American involvement in the Middle East by saying this country should not get involved in “foreign ethnic conflicts” and has posted that “Israel can fight its own wars.” Wilson has a history of antisemitic comments as well, including supportive references to the far-right “great replacement theory” and fierce attacks against lynching victim Leo Frank, a Jewish man wrongly convicted of raping and murdering a child in the early 20th century.

But even Trump’s administration appeared to have hit a breaking point this month when they rescinded a job offer to anti-Israel commentator Daniel Davis, who had been offered the position of deputy director of national intelligence before it was discovered that Davis had suggested that Israel was partially responsible for the Oct. 7 Hamas murders and kidnappings. Davis had described the terrorists’ assault as a “convenient” excuse to justify Israel’s “wanton destruction” in Gaza and criticized U.S. support for Israel’s response to the attacks as a “strategic and moral mistake” and as a “stain on our character as a nation.” 

Fierce bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill killed Davis’ nomination, but Trump’s allies have been much more circumspect when asked about Elon Musk’s and Steve Bannon’s flirtations with Nazi-related imagery and statements in their public appearances and social media postings. Trump has not bothered to criticize either of his confidantes for their occasional use of pro-Nazi symbolism. 

Biden and Trump have both been stalwart supporters of Israel. But both have been unable and too often unwilling to combat the unavoidable anti-Zionist and antisemitic tendencies in their own parties. It’s disappointing when a president of either party can’t — or won’t — stand up to ethnic hatred and bigotry among his own supporters.  

It’s even more unfortunate when far too many American Jews turn a blind eye to such ugly zealotry when it’s voiced by members of their own party. 

But they’re not the only ones who are willing to engage in such situational outrage: it’s even more unfortunate when far too many American Jews turn a blind eye to such ugly zealotry when it’s voiced by members of their own party. Biden and Trump are merely politicians, for whom the next election is the only thing that matters. The rest of us should know better.

Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com.