The Democratic Party’s failure to counter the rising tide of anti-Semitism within its own ranks has reached a dangerous tipping point, and the actions of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are emboldening those who hate Jews.
Since the October 7 massacre, countless radicals within the Democratic base have taken to the streets, using the Hamas attack as a rallying cry. They are waving the flags of terrorist organizations in our streets, chanting “Death to America” on our soil, and blocking Jewish students from academic institutions on our college campuses.
Kamala Harris is letting these people lead her, sometimes by remaining silent and sometimes by blatantly giving in, while giving the country whiplash with her constant back and forth on her positions. Suddenly Harris refuses to take any responsibility for the border violations under her watch, pretending she isn’t on video advocating for a fracking ban, and ridiculously trying to pass off President Trump’s proposal to repeal the tip tax as her own.
There is one area where Harris refuses to change course: in her pandering to far-left Jew-haters in her party. After successfully carrying out her palace coup, ousting the incumbent president at the top of the Democratic ticket and disenfranchising 14 million Democratic voters in the process, Harris could have sent a clear message to her party supporters that she will no longer tolerate Hamas sympathizers in her ranks. Instead, every action she has taken since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee has been a stark reminder to Jewish voters across the country that we are not safe under Democratic rule.
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A few days after she accepted her party’s nomination, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a joint address to Congress. Instead of fulfilling her duty of presiding over the Senate chamber, she chose to visit a fraternity.
The next day, she met privately with Netanyahu. Immediately after the meeting, she increased pressure on Bibi, urging Israel to accept the flawed ceasefire offer that was on the table – an offer that Hamas had not even agreed to. Harris claims this deal would be the best for Israeli security. In reality, it does not guarantee the elimination of Hamas, forces Israel to give up all its influence by withdrawing from Gaza, and does not even guarantee the return of all remaining hostages, including the Americans.
While all this was happening, “protesters” at Union Station were destroying public property, including American flags. She was nowhere to be found. It took her 24 hours of stalling to even mention that these terrorist sympathizers were marching around our nation’s Capitol. Perhaps that’s because it’s the same kind of “protest” that she supported with a bail fund for those arrested for attempting to burn down Minneapolis during the 2020 “Summer of Love.”
She then chose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for the vice presidential nomination, which many see as a consequence of his Jewish faith. Because he is Jewish and that is unpopular with her radical base, she chose instead the far-left politician Tim Walz, who remained inactive for days while rioters burned Minneapolis.
Walz’s past record fits disturbingly well with this anti-Semitic faction. He has openly praised Imam Asad Zaman, who not only refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas attack but also promoted Adolf Hitler’s ideology. Walz has called Zaman a “master teacher.” He has also expressed support for Ilhan Omar, saying that on difficult days, the thought of her sitting in Congress makes him smile.
Harris’s nomination of Walz as her running mate was a nod to the same violent mob that is now turning its fire on Jewish Americans. And let’s not forget that as vice president, less than a month after October 7, Kamala Harris launched the US’s first national strategy to combat Islamophobia, despite the fact that it was widely anti-Semitic. She firmly rejects the use of the term “radical Islamic terrorism” but remains unruffled when Jews are threatened on her watch.
Vice President Harris, along with Joe Biden, has paid billions of dollars in ransoms to Iran, cut American energy production to buy from the mullahs, and encouraged the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxies to carry out the largest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Millions of American Jews do not feel safe under the current administration. This November, many of us are realizing that our safety depends on the power of our voice.
With the threat of a larger regional conflict looming in the Middle East, Americans look back wistfully to four years ago, when we had a president who ended wars instead of starting new ones. President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, signed the Taylor Force Act to prevent U.S. taxpayer money from going to Hamas, and formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
America had a president who signed an executive order to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses, who crippled Iran with a maximum pressure campaign, and who launched the Abraham Accords – a feat no one thought possible.
Given the growing threats Jewish Americans face both at home and abroad, it is clear that the current administration is unwilling or unable to provide us with the protection we need. This November, we must vote to restore security, strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance, and put America first by electing politicians who will truly stand with us, like Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Harris has shown that she has neither the courage nor the ability to provide effective leadership at this critical moment.
Lee Zeldin is a former New York Congressman (NY-1, 2015-2023) and a 2022 gubernatorial candidate. He serves on the board of America First Works.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
