OPINION:
A friend who’s a Hasidic Jew once told me that if there are two candidates for an office on the ballot — and he knows nothing more about them than that one has a Jewish-sounding name and the other does not — he invariably votes for the one he thinks isn’t Jewish, because, as he puts it, there’s less of a chance he’ll be “meshuggeneh” (crazy).
I thought of that when I read the latest Survey of Jewish Voters by the Jewish Electoral Institute, which shows that in a potential 2024 contest between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, Jews favor Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump by 50 percentage points.
This is not an anomaly. In 2020, Mr. Biden got 70% of the Jewish vote. Hillary Clinton did as well in 2016. Today, 61% of Jewish voters view the president favorably, compared with 41% of the public.
Even though Mr. Trump was the most pro-Israel president in our lifetime and Mr. Biden is the most hostile to the Jewish state, an overwhelming majority of Jewish voters are eager to march off a cliff holding the Democratic banner.
Under the Trump administration, the U.S. Embassy was finally moved to Jerusalem, Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights was recognized, and historic peace treaties were signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The U.S. walked away from the Obama-Biden diplomacy of capitulation to Iran. Instead, Mr. Trump adopted a posture of “maximum pressure” on the mullahs.
Mr. Biden reversed that, and we’re back to facilitating Tehran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons in preparation for Holocaust 2.0.
Israel is harassed for building Jewish communities in historic Israel, aka the West Bank. The 2022 State Department Country Reports faults the Jewish state for not fighting terrorism according to Marquess of Queensbury rules.
The president’s party has turned against Israel big time and tolerates antisemitism in its leadership.
In a Gallup Poll out in March, 49% of Democrats said they sympathize with the Palestinians, versus 38% who are pro-Israel. For Republicans, it was the reverse, with support for Israel at 78% and only 11% favoring the Palestinians.
Neither the president nor his party is willing to take a stand against prominent antisemites in their ranks, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, who equates Israeli security forces with Hamas and charges supporters of Israel with “allegiance to a foreign country.”
Her fellow “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib (who said contemplating the Holocaust gave her a “calming feeling”) — won’t be marching in an Israel Day parade anytime soon.
Could Democratic leaders have anything to do with antisemitic incidents being at an all-time high?
When a resolution condemning antisemitism passed the House in 2019, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called Ms. Omar a “valued member” of the Democratic Caucus, saw to it that no names were mentioned.
Jewish views on the pressing issues of the day also reflect tragically flawed thinking. Of Reform Jews, 97% think abortion should be legal in most cases, as do 86% of those who identify with the Conservative movement.
Orthodox Jews are the only bright spot in this otherwise dismal picture. Here, 70% think abortion should be illegal in most cases. Among the Orthodox, a clear majority would vote for Mr. Trump in a hypothetical rematch.
Orthodox Jews, who take Jewish law seriously, reflect the true spirit of Judaism. It shows in the way they vote.
As the level of observance goes up — from Reform to Hasidism — so does support for conservatism. The voting patterns of Orthodox Jews are nearly identical to those of White evangelical Protestants.
Jewish liberalism is rooted in secularism. While 38% of Americans attend religious services weekly, only 16% of Jews do.
American Jews were the first community to secularize. Liberalism is the ersatz religion of those who have abandoned the faith of their fathers — whether it’s ex-Catholics, Protestants who conduct services on a golf course on Sunday, or Jews in Name Mostly.
Besides not voting Republican, modernist Jews aren’t having children. Their fertility rate goes as low as 1.1. Again, Orthodox Jews are the exception, with a fertility rate of 3.3. It’s even higher among the Hasidim. In a few generations, American Jews will all be Orthodox — God willing.
The Prophet Hosea warned, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
There are many kinds of knowledge, survival skills — the ability to tell your friends from your enemies — foremost among them.
Israelis have survival skills. American Jews do not.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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