To Fight Antisemitism Let’s Stop Pointing Fingers and Start Seeking Allies

In recent years, a significant segment of the Jewish community has attacked the “Left” as fundamentally antisemitic, Marxist, anti-free speech and violent.  Some, including U.S. politicians on the Right, go so far as to claim that the real antisemitism problem in America and around the world is on the Left while minimizing or excusing antisemitism on the Right.

Do we really need to try to count how many antisemites there are on the Left and the Right to decide which group of haters is currently a bigger problem for the Jewish people? Can’t we just agree that antisemitism on both the Right and the Left is a major problem in America and the world and work together as Jews to build and re-build alliances for a better future?  

There are many well-chronicled examples of antisemitism on the Left following Oct. 7. One that is particularly poignant for me, as the father of a Cornell undergraduate at the time, was the videotape of an off-campus pro-Palestinian rally, just eight days after Oct. 7, in which a black Cornell history professor expressed how “exhilarated” he was by the success of Hamas’ attack! In the weeks that followed, once Israel began to respond in Gaza to defend itself and rescue the hostages, the anti-Zionist and antisemitic diatribes grew more prevalent in the U.S. and around the world, in universities and political circles. As one example, a Palestinian-American member of Congress, Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), was quick to accuse Israel of “genocide” in Gaza and being an “apartheid state.” She joined the chorus of chants “from the river to the sea,” which is commonly understood to call for the destruction of Israel.

The Jewish community’s impulse to go into fight mode and express outrage was a natural and understandable response.  People who engage in antisemitic propaganda and actions should be held accountable. Court actions, such as the case against UCLA, were needed and were frequently successful. We need to stand up against hate and our actions since Oct. 7 have served an important purpose in establishing some consequences for those who come after our community.

But now, with the ceasefire in Gaza and return of all the remaining live hostages, it is time to pivot to the future and to develop a sobering and broader assessment of our community’s options.

As we move toward the end of 2025, there are increasing concerns about antisemitism on the Right, though this is far from a new issue. I won’t recite here a list of examples of Jew hatred on the Right in the 20th century, led of course by the Nazis and other fascists, or in the first two decades of this century. Two recent examples of antisemitism on the Right include the antisemitic and racist text messages of the Young Republican National Federation (the GOP’s national leadership group for ages 18-40), and the writings and history of Paul Ingrassia, the Administration’s failed nominee to head the Office of Special Counsel, who admitted that he has a “Nazi streak.”   

We face a difficult situation with enemies on both sides. I am concerned that the Jewish community is losing its way as significant segments of our community choose to demonize the other side of the political spectrum as our community becomes more deeply divided and polarized.

Instead of pointing fingers and joining in the partisan food fight that is tearing apart our country, the Jewish community would be better served to build alliances and support in a wide variety of political, social, religious and ethnic communities. There are people on the Left and Right who hate us and perhaps nothing we do will change those individuals. But there are surely others with current anti-Zionist or antisemitic sentiments who can change and evolve.  In addition, there are many Americans who support us and might even increase that support if the Jewish community creates fertile ground for cultivating their support.

How could we go about doing that? It won’t be easy and there is no one answer. We can strive to be even better Jews and people, renew our commitment to Jewish values, increase our efforts to “repair the world” (tikkun olam), and continue to contribute as we have to the success of society in science, medicine, law, business, politics, and the other great things Jews around the world have been doing. Jews in Israel and the Diaspora need to up our game in communications and the media, including social media, and to do their very best to follow their moral compass in the use of military and political power.

Politics in the U.S. is volatile and the last three Presidential elections have been decided by extremely small margins. Many in the Jewish community have believed for decades, as I have, that U.S. foreign policy should be bipartisan to the extent possible and especially when it comes to support of our democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel.  If the Israeli government and Jewish leaders in the U.S. give up and say “to heck” with the Left and the Democratic Party, what will happen when the Democrats retake Congress or the Presidency? 

Israel has shown great military might and brilliance yet again, but the medium and long-term future looks much less positive to me if Israel chooses to go it alone, in an ongoing alliance between the Netanyahu coalition government and a MAGA administration that is ideologically aligned with it on the political Right. Jewish leadership in both Israel and the U.S. would benefit from doing whatever they can in the years ahead to maintain bipartisan support from within the U.S. and to work on broadening support from other leaders around the world.

Another aspect of repairing alliances and creating new ones in America is for us to reach out to the many communities in our pluralistic society in the U.S. The support from President Trump and portions of his MAGA movement, as well as Evangelical Christians, should be appreciated and hopefully will continue even if American Jews remain bipartisan as a community (or if Israel’s government moves leftward in elections next year). American Jews have had historic alliances with large segments of the diverse racial, ethnic and religious communities that have worked together to build America, including the black community. Does it make sense to demonize the black community, the Hispanic community, the gay community or other political and religious communities in America who could be allied with or supportive of the Jewish community, at least in part, just because some segment of these communities sided with Hamas during the past two years? We should always remember that Judaism teaches us to treat others with respect because all humans are made in the image of G-d.  

We should be grateful for all the support we have received since Oct. 7 from the Biden and Trump administrations, and many communities in our society. One special act of kindness for me and all of us on our block in Beverlywood shortly after Oct. 7 was the beautiful blue and white display of lights in the late fall of 2023 by our non-Jewish neighbor featuring “tikvah” in big, bold letters.

There are wide and legitimate policy disputes about all sorts of issues, foreign and domestic. The path forward in the Middle East to rebuild and govern Gaza, and to fulfill the dream of a lasting peace, is arduous and complex. It is not healthy for Israel, nor helpful to its future success, to be a “pariah state,” nor is it healthy for the Jewish community to be as divided as it is around the world. In Israel and the Diaspora, we should move away from putting all our eggs in one basket and do the hard work involved in rebuilding alliances and relationships with other communities and political leaders with whom we may not be fully aligned ideologically or culturally. 

Frank Melton is a retired labor and employment attorney and a member of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.