Imagine what would happen if a known antisemite like New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, Louis Farrakhan, or David Duke mocked Israel’s right to self-defense when attacked.
There would undoubtedly be a legitimate uproar.
Imagine if the vicious criticism vilifying the Jewish state was uttered with a smirk during a war of defense that began with the most Jews murdered in one day since the Holocaust.
There would certainly be a well-deserved public outcry.
And imagine that the nasty condemnation of America’s most dependable ally was said to a media outlet known for besmirching Israel exuberantly.
It would of course have ruffled some feathers.
But that uproar, that outcry, and that feather ruffling have been conspicuously absent since one of the most antisemitic and outrageous comments ever made was uttered on Thursday.
Perhaps because they happened to have been said by the man who is unfortunately the vice president of the United States, JD Vance?
I understand why Jewish organizations would be reluctant to challenge such a powerful man, who could become our commander in chief in a heartbeat, if our 80-year-old president does what a lot of 80-year-olds do every day.
Vance’s comments about Israel
But listen to what Vance told The New York Times when asked how he would respond to Israeli cabinet ministers who oppose the memorandum of understanding he reached with Iran.
“I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal?” Vance said. “You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”
Excuse me? That is pure antisemitism. We are not killers.
The world’s greatest experts on urban warfare have concluded that Israel has done more to avoid civilian deaths among its enemies than any army in the history of mankind on this earth.
We want peace more than anyone. But to achieve it, we are not willing to lay down our arms, surrender, drop dead, and disappear without a fight.
Our low numbers are not a coincidence, and they should never be ridiculed. We have endured pogroms, plagues, a Holocaust, and an October 7 massacre that our enemies have pledged to repeat again and again with the support of their sponsors whom you met at a summit in a Swiss castle.
This was not the only outrageous statement Vance said ahead of the summit.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” he said during a White House news briefing.
That is not true. Israel maintains many alliances with many countries, especially the many countries threatened by the prospects of a nuclear Iran.
“The other thing that I would say is that over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” he said, forgetting the strong cooperation between the Israeli and American allies in Iran during Operation Epic Fury.
So where is the ADL? Where is the National Jewish Democratic Council? Too busy celebrating Juneteenth and repeating their mistakes that led to American Jews not being ready for the aftermath of October 7.
The only one who responded to Vance’s vicious attack was one of the Israeli cabinet ministers who had called him out.
“This is the proposal, @JDVance,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote to him on X/Twitter. “To deal with the Nazis of the 21st century, just as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the 20th century.”
The Culture for Peace Institute that I head seeks nothing more than a just peace. But the vice president’s memo does not and will not promote or advance peace.
What Vance said should still be slammed by every Jewish organization, or he will believe he could get away with his antisemitism.
After October 7, Vance’s initials became “Jews’ Demonizer.”
The writer is chairman of the Religious Zionists of America and president of the Culture for Peace Institute. He was appointed by former US president Donald Trump and serves as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. The views expressed are his own. Martinoliner@gmail.com
Source:
www.jpost.com
