Will American Jews stay blue in November?
By Robert Anthony
Writing some notes for this column, I was shocked to learn how far back the Jews have had left-leaning politics! I have long known that the majority of the Jews vote blue/left and have throughout Jewish history in America. But I was shocked to learn how large a majority. In the 2018 midterms, it was nearly 80% of Jews voting blue! I was almost more shocked to learn that the Jews have been voting progressive even since the mid-19th century.
In fact, Jewish Americans, with only 2% of the U.S. population, largely helped to create the Democratic Party as we know it today!
Perhaps I viewed the Jews as more politically right because I was never into politics and often viewed the Jewish people as religious and conservative, but that is not the case in America. I lived in Israel for six months and traveled much of my time in country. I found the Israelis to be conservative, more or less, and would guess Israel to have an overwhelming majority conservative population, but that too has not been the case, not until recently anyway. Israel, as a nation, has recently and dramatically shifted into a conservative nation, and now with Hamas, Hezbollah and enemies attacking them daily, even more so. (Here is an interesting article on the subject.)
I can't help but ponder what will become of the Jewish vote coming into the 2024 election. The bastion of progressive liberalism in America has obviously been our world-famous universities, and for quite some time now. More than Wall Street, Big Media or even Big Tech., the stronghold for the progressive movement has remained America's institutions of higher education for two generations now, almost three. So to Jewish America I would pose the question: What are you going to do now? Now that you see these institutions turn against you, even as a people, with such extreme bigotry, angst and intolerance – the very institutions once pining for tolerance – what will become of your politics?
To me the Bible is entirely pro-life, so how the Jews could champion a political party so nonchalant and even cavalier about taking an unborn life is difficult for me to understand. The Bible warns over and again about homosexuality; it teaches in detail about marriage (being between a man and woman) and has many other laws pertaining to sex and how to remedy illicit sexual activity throughout Judaism and within Israel. One would think the Jews would abstain from supporting the whole of the LGBTQ movement, but instead they are some of its greatest champions! They have a long and famous history of being gifted bankers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, inventors, etc., so one would think their fiscal policy would be quite conservative. However, throughout U.S. history, it has been quite the contrary. Nearly every modern liberal policy seems to be a violation of what Jews hold dear, and yet they still vote overwhelmingly blue.
Now, the Jews have come to a crossroad. Classical liberalism is all but dead at this point. Sure, RFK Jr. and a few relics throughout the Democratic Party are trying to bring about a classical-liberal revival, but the purveying crowd against them has grown far too loud. So the Jews are left with the new woke Democratic Party that is looking more and more socialist-Marxist and anti-Israel by the day. The alternative is, they can totally abandon ship.
What must be going through the minds of Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg, Tony Blinken, Janet Yellen, Merrick Garland, Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Jared Polis (Colorado), Josh Green (Hawaii), JB Pritzker (Illinois) and so many other high-ranking Jewish Democrats as they watch this country turning anti-Semitic, and practically overnight. Has it not been more than 80 years since anti-Semitism has been found among their ranks? Do they not take great pride in being the party of inclusion and equity? And yet suddenly Israel, as a nation and a people, is being canceled.
I suppose it would be possible for the Jewish Democrats to abandon Israel in her hour of need so as to avoid a civil war within their own party, but how many of these same Jews have family who have immigrated to Israel and perhaps have lived in country for generations now? How many of these high-profile Jews in Hollywood, Wall Street and D.C. have intimate ties with Israeli businesses, years-long relationships in country, perhaps even owning property there and then, of course, agreeing quite frequently as they make a toast at Hanukah or Passover, "Next Year in Jerusalem!" The ties among even America's Reformed Jews with Israel cannot be overstated, let alone the deep-seated and unbreakable loyalty of the Orthodox community throughout the U.S. and their undying devotion to the Jewish state. Is it even possible for the Jews in America to unravel themselves from Israel? The university protesters seem to understand this glaring reality better than anyone, and you can hear it in their chanting.
This election cycle is shaping up to be without a doubt one for the history books! It will be quite shocking to me if even close to a majority of Jews vote Biden this coming November, but then again, thus far Biden and his administration have been more or less supportive to the Jewish state throughout this new regional war.
The proverbial and Biblical writing is on the wall indicates the Democratic Party is almost through its metamorphosis, and what is quickly emerging does not have a place for any Israel-loving Jews. So will American Jewry abandon Israel altogether to keep pace with their party, or will they bring a new, maybe more moderate and centrist, voice into the GOP? History is being written even as we consider these things.
After Bible College, Robert Anthony was an entrepreneur and then missionary for many years. He lived in Israel and visited many places throughout the Middle East. He is currently the senior editor of American Revival Press, calling for nationwide repentance and spiritual awakening.
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