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Jexodus: Are Jews Leaving the Democrat Party?
Finally. The news is coming out that efforts, although small ones, are being made by Jews to break away from the Democrat party. Most of those activities are happening within the Orthodox Jewish community, but they are vocal and excited, wearing MAGA hats and celebrating Donald Trump.
One of those organizations is the National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) . The organization has existed since the early 20th century:
Today, the National Council of Young Israel provides professional advice and cost-saving initiatives to 135 Young Israel synagogues (and beyond), advocates for the interests and views of our 25,000 member families, trains aspiring rabbis, supports rabbis in the field with bi-weekly question and answer sessions, aides communities with rabbinic searches and relations, and coordinates informative conference calls for gabbaim [financial managers].
On March 31, 2019, the organization held a New York City gala. The purpose of the organization resonates with the young and the old:
Iris Maidenbaum, 60, is not a member of a local Young Israel congregation, but appreciates the group’s vocal support of Israel.‘We’re not signed up because of any particular political affiliation, but we’re in agreement with many of the policies, at this point probably most of the policies, on Israel and on other things,’ she said. ‘But particularly, our concern is the security and the advancement of the State of Israel.’
For others, the bond between Orthodox Judaism and Trump hit home. Zachary Silver, 25, a conservative activist who managed the contingent of about 125 young professionals at the dinner, believes that Jews who become more traditionally observant will gravitate toward the Republican Party.
‘The Republican Party right now and the conservatives are the most pro-God movement of my life, honestly,’ said Silver, who also wore a Trump kippah. ‘The liberal party, the leftist party, the Democrats, especially here and in Israel, they’re socialist, they’re anti-God, they don’t have true values.’
Trump has attracted Orthodox Jews after selecting a man who has supported Israeli settlements as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel; he has also moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, removed the U.S. from the Iranian deal, and most recently supported Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
There is another conservative Jewish group that has emerged. President Trump referred to it in a tweet, claiming that “Jewish people are leaving the Democratic Party.” Although the Jexodus website appears to have been taken down, The Daily Wire provides background about the group. The founder, Jeff Ballabon, has been involved in Republican politics for a long time, and attacked Ilhan Omar:
‘I’m going to say it, she is filth,’ Ballabon said. ‘She has no place in Congress, she has no place in the Foreign Affairs committee.’
Whether his extreme language will be helpful or not, time will tell. One colleague, such as Elizabeth Pipko, makes a good case for leaving the Democrat Party after Ilhan Omar’s latest remarks:
I mean, the scariest part obviously was not the original anti-Semitism. It was the lack of leadership coming into play when they were supposed to come into play and condemn what happened and they failed, so not only did the anti-Semitism that started with Ilhan Omar get worse and worse … but when the leadership fails to condemn that, it shows they are a party of anti-Semitism.
Finally, there is an organization that works more in the background: the Republican Jewish Coalition founded in 1985. It has offices all over the country and lobbies on Capitol Hill. “On every level, the Republican Jewish Coalition is committed to building a strong, effective, and respected Jewish Republican voice in Washington and across the country.” The energy created by all these groups and activities can make a difference. Still, changing the minds of Progressive Jews will be difficult:
While Republicans have made significant inroads in the Jewish community in recent years, Jews continue to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates in presidential elections. Hillary Clinton received 71% of the Jewish vote in 2016, and 79% of Jews voted for Democrats in the 2018 midterms.
If the Democrats continue to allow anti-Semitism to be voiced without objections, they will be designing their own dark future.
I’m hoping that at least some Jews will finally take notice.
Published in Politics
When the Dems proved unable/unwilling to pass a simple non-binding resolution saying Anti-Semitism is bad, that had to be noticed by a lot of people. That may not be enough to swing them over to the GOP, but they have to be thinking about who they can trust.
I hope Jewish Democrats realize they can do everything the Dems want – support BDS, denounce Israel (same thing I guess), and vote Democrat as well as provide financial support – but it doesn’t override their being Jewish thus keeping them out of the crosshairs. It’s bad enough Democrat voters don’t recognize what’s happening, but Jewish Democrat politicians have no excuse. All House Jewish members – Democrat and Republican – should expel these Omar and Tlaib for what they are.
The Omars and Tlaibs are the tip of the spear to destroy the Jewish people, and I don’t mean just politically. I’m willing to bet their public anti-semitism is mild compared with what is actually in their hearts and minds . . .
It’s a winning strategy.
It stimulates their anti-Semitic base which is twenty-fold larger than the Jewish population and growing.
Plus, it actually encourages narcissistic Jews (generally with inverse correlation to religiosity) to continue to vote Dem. to prove their moral/intellectual superiority.
Lee Zeldin just attacked Ilhan Omar for calling Stephen Miller a White Nationalist:
Then we have this article https://contemptor.com/2019/04/09/stephen-miller-is-a-white-nationalist-his-being-jewish-does-not-protect-him-from-criticism-for-it/ :
There are so many things disturbing about this article that I can’t begin to list them . . . but of course, Omar is not anti-Semitic–necessarily . . .
What was I thinking, @ctlaw?! Of course, progressives are the intellectual elite! [sarc off]
Well I wouldn’t hold my breath. What is the split among Jews politically 80/20 for Democrats? I guess 70/30 is better but hardly significant. Also, considering the distribution of Jews geographically their votes don’t really count that much.
Now maybe if they can turn their weather control powers to aid Trump that might prove helpful.
It matters because if they don’t protest the anti-Semitism that comes out of the mouths of Democrats, they could eventually be sealing their own doom. Even a moderate shift in the percentages could make a difference in the future, @valiuth.
It isn’t? Please show your math.
I wasn’t claiming certainty, it just kind of feels like an 80/20 split.
Here is the issue though. If Jews leave the Democratic party their influence in it decreases proportionally. Leaving the Democrats is probably the worst way to influence them to be less antisemitic. So for the BDSM types trying to take over Jews leaving is a win win. They spread their ideology and drive out the competition. Average Democrat probably doesn’t care about the issue or is very well informed about it. They will go along with the party consensus as a means to getting their own issues supported.
So maybe Jews leaving the Democratic party is good for Republicans electorally, and for Jews spiritually, but maybe it isn’t really good for helping keeping the issue of support for Israel bi-partisan. The political incentives for Republicans and BDSMers will be to polarize the issue to maximize their political advantage. The two share oddly enough share a common interest in having Jews leave the Democrats.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationalismNationalism definition is – loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.
So, I am a native born American, of Caucasian parents, and I love my country more than any other country. That makes me a “White Nationalist” and I am proud to be so. If I had been born of any other race in America, I would be a proud Nationalist of that ethic group. Candace Owens, is a proud Black Nationalist. Thank goodness we have “Proud Nationalist” in America.
This seems to be a natural consequence of the DNC embracing Identity Politics. Unwelcome are the unwoke was the start. Then the Twitter Mob turned on the previously welcomed “allies”. Now, Identity Politics is pushing out all those not at the top of the oppression hierarchy. You can make a list of those already out: Black men (they’re men), gays (they’re men), Jews (they’re white), Asians (they’re white). Some of the groups don’t know it yet, but this will be an important factor in 2020. Obama built a coalition of minority groups. The DNC is trying to build a coalition of minority subsets of minority groups, which does not seem workable.
I was thinking along similar lines. I’m white, and I’m a nationalist. That makes me a white nationlist. However, the left is trying to segue “white supremacist” into “white nationalist”, thus making racists of us all . . .
@stad, From Jerusalem Post: Ilhan Omar calls Jewish White House adviser, Stephen Miller, a ‘white nationalist’.
That woman needs to be tossed out of Congress. She is not an American, no matter of her taking an oath. Islam forbids swearing allegiance to any other. They are allowed to lie, for deceitful purposes and swear to uphold the American Constitution. She should never have been let into Congress as her oath was a lie.
I disagree.
The immediate and secondary effects would marginalize the Democrats.
First, the Dems lose funding.
Then they lose cover. The party can no longer hide its anti-Semitsm. For the non-Jewish white elite, all of a sudden the party is unfashionable. They lose their illusion of moral superiority over Republicans.
It wasn’t the certainty I was talking about. It was the significance. I’m pretty sure our political Consultant-Americans would consider a switch from 80/20 to 70/30 to be significant enough to be taken into consideration in their campaign advice.
I disagree on multiple counts. First, when you affiliate a group, you are identified with them. If they try to attack the Dems from within, they will be isolated. If they want to work within the system, they attack the Dems from outside; there’s no attacking them from the inside. Second, don’t fool yourself: many Progressive Jews are against Israel.
For one, they are essentially hating themselves. After all, if they’re white, they inherently must hate themselves and must be racist. It’s too complicated for me, @dong. You’re right. They’ll end up in more chaos.
You are talking about a 10% shift in perhaps 3% of the vote overall or a 0.3% shift.
But overall numbers tell you nothing. You have to look at voting districts.
In NY and NJ, the shift will be much higher, but will not make a difference in statewide races and not even in individual congressional districts. In NY, the closest Dem win was by 2% in the upstate relatively Judenrein 22nd. In the purple states and swing districts, we are likely talking a much lower Jewish vote.
Your points make sense, @ctlaw. So given that perspective, do you see anything encouraging to glean from this information? Or am I just showing my own perhaps misguided concern about US Jews? (sincere questions)
The article says things like,
and that misses something important about American voter demographics, and especially Trump voter demographics.
In the Five Types of Trump Voters survey, 20% of Trump voters fell under the category “American Preservationist”. That this category was not named “white nationalist” indicates even the survey designers do not consider it appropriate to label the category as such, but American Preservationism is characterized by some sentiments about race which understandably might make minority groups (and those sympathetic to them) uncomfortable:
This particular category of voter does seem surprisingly attached to whiteness as part of American identity. According to the survey “The American Preservationists constitute the core Trump constituency”, and Miller is known for unabashedly advocating for Trump’s core constituency. It isn’t so hard to see how that could be uncharitably interpreted as supporting “white nationalism”.
Can’t they just call it Exodus. I don’t see why we need the extra J, since, you know, the first one was for them too. ;)
So it is about the Benjamins?
But, seriously I doubt anyone ever loses their illusion of moral superiority over Republicans, and they won’t lose cover either. Since there are no objective standards at play for them to measure against.
From your lips to God’s Chosen People’s ears.
The problem for Jewish Democrats right now is they’re simply being taken for granted by the party as a whole, in the same way it takes support of African-American voters for granted, while the same people see Omar’s position as both an immigrant and Muslim as potential future sources of new reliable voters. Omar being elected from deep Blue district that previously had sent Keith Ellison to Congress allows here to ramp up the anti-Semitic rhetoric to places Ellison didn’t dare tread, while at the same time she maintains her staunch defenders outside the district, because their assumption is that enough Jewish voters are so tied into the progressive cause any departures from the party would be small and insignificant.
Obviously, that might have to be re-thought after the 2020 election, if some of the Jewish suburbs of Philadelphia go from Blue to Red and Trump wins Pennsylvania by 10,000 or so votes again. But that was also the prevailing wisdom in New York City in the wake of the Crown Heights riots — David Dinkins could simply let Lee Brown go back to Houston and the mayor could hire a new police chief, and everyone would forget about the pogrom by Election Day in 1993. Didn’t work out as planned, though other than the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, Giuliani’s election in ’93 didn’t create a permanent realignment. Whether or not you’d see something like that if people like Omar or AOC remain the hot, new faces of the Democratic Party past 2020, and openly courting their supporters via anti-Semitism or 9/11 Trutherism remains to be seen, but they are making it harder and harder for liberal Jewish Democrats to deny the growth of support within their party on that type of ideology.
I agree. It occurs to me though, that if Jews do head over to ‘our side’ I foresee anti-Semitism we haven’t seen in awhile. This won’t be an amicable divorce.
Believe it or not, there are a lot of Jews already on “our side” including me.
It will be ugly, but fascinating, especially in areas like business and pop culture media, where you have many prominent Jewish Democratic supporters. It’s hard to see the business people hanging on for very long, if the Democrats’ official party rhetoric stops being generally anti-capitalist and starts being specifically anti rich Jewish capitalists, but the Hollywood and New York entertainment types might hold out a little longer, either because they just don’t know any better or think their celebrity will give them an exemption from attack.
I meant come over in the numbers suggested.
Still, my word choice was poor and I apologize.
Apology accepted. I went through all my VCRs and DVDs today as I must down size and found one movie left of Barbar Streisand, that I hadn’t tossed. Out it went.
One of the many reasons I decided to make my own life in Israel was because I thought the majority of American Jewry were hopelessly deluded and beyond my ability to influence or rescue. “Jexit”, or whatever, isn’t going to have much impact on the lethally flawed and fatal ideology to which so many of them cling.